Mistakes one and counting
by Sweetest Days
Summary: Nathaniel should have known it all along. Nothing good ever happen to him on a Monday. MelodyXNathanielxOC possibly in future chapters.
1. The new tornado

_**Summary:** _Nathaniel should have known. Nothing good ever happened on a Monday.

_**Author note:**_ Hmm the excuse for this… opposites attract maybe? Ah, take the relationship however you want in your own hearts. For once… no new character profile! I'm making her with only her looks and throwing her to the wolves to develop her own personality as I write her!

_**Disclaimer:**_ I wish but then I don't. So I only own Lizzie.

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Chapter start

There was no way to know. For the years to come that would be Nathaniel's defense against that school year. He couldn't have known.

It had started off just like any regular day in Sweet Amoris. His sister woke him up with her shrill voice and stomping around in her room. If he was like Castiel he'd have some choice words for her and the fact the walls were paper thin in the home they had.

Nathaniel sighed as he opened his golden eyes, wincing when the light pierced his foggy brain. The shower was on. He registered it dimly.

As he woke up further he became aware of the smells of cooking food. This was enough to tell him his parents were up. A small shudder went down his back as he pictured the scene. His mother would be at the stove. His father would be at the table reading the paper or going over business documents.

Eventually he and Amber would join the scene. And with the four of them they would make a total mockery of a kind and loving family. His mother too nervous and withdrawn to make any ripples, his father waiting like a lion to pounce on him, Amber taking advantage of the situations. Nobody would see that though outside of the home.

He didn't blame Amber. It was his fault after all. He had been the one who used to pick and needle at her, earning his father's distrust and 'special attention.'

Nathaniel rolled from his bed and gathered his clothes, while he waited for the shower he checked over his homework. It took him exactly an hour to shower, dress, handle his toiletries, and be at the table.

Amber was chattering away excitedly about something. Nathaniel picked at his food dutifully and his mother sat quietly.

Their Father drove them to school daily. Nathaniel had his license but he wasn't considered mature enough to have a car. Nathaniel didn't know what he could do to force a change in the way the older man viewed his son but he was giving up.

Blood was supposed to be thicker than water. That was the biggest joke of them all.

He didn't waste time vaulting from the car. Amber stayed behind to talk to their father. By the time she was out of the car he was in the building and maneuvering carefully between the heavy throng of students.

When he finally made it to the council room he breathed a sigh of relief. If only he had known then what he knew now he would have made a run for the hills.

"Ah Nathaniel you're here." Melody was standing beside a student who was sitting, feet propped up on the table and the chair tipped back on two legs.

There was a swift impression of fluffy blond hair and ice blue eyes set in a smiling face. Nathaniel focused on Melody who fluttered her hands before her and bit her lip.

"Hello! My name's Lizzie. It's a pleasure."

Nathaniel furrowed his brow as he tried to recall anything about a meeting. Then it hit him. The new student that had been _scheduled _to appear three days ago. There was no way she could be anyone else.

The term delinquent circled his mind as Nathaniel expelled his breath softly. As if he needed another one. And he hardly needed the paperwork either.

It wasn't that Nathaniel hated people. He just hated idiots and troublemakers. And there were a disheartening number of them in the school. It was rather disheartening to meet so many people his age who didn't know the importance of being on schedule and having good grammar… good god, how many people had terrible grammar here.

"Melody I'll handle this. You can go to class," Nathaniel said as he turned eyes to the new student. "Please get your shoes off the table."

During the brief meeting Lizzie kept quiet but the smile didn't leave her face. Nathaniel wondered if she was excited to be here or if she was just one of those chipper people.

It was early spring when she arrived. Nathaniel didn't pay her much attention. So there was no way it was his fault.

A week passed with no notable changes. Nathaniel spent his time in similar fashion on a daily basis. He would eat lunch in the student council room with Melody; spend his time divided between helping students and reviewing papers.

On occasion he would flicker his gaze to Lizzie. They shared a few classes together and she generally was seated close to him. Not close enough for there to ever be a need to socialize together though. On occasion he would hear one of the other students give her an invitation. He already knew all her excuses.

"Hey Lizzie want to eat lunch with us?" one would ask.

"Forgot my lunch money, sorry! You go on." Lizzie would smile and wave them through the door before vanishing or sleeping at her desk.

"There's this new store opening up. Want to come?"

"I have plans. Next time, okay?"

Nathaniel supposed he would have been curious if he cared. She seemed genuinely amiable and her friendly, approachable manner made most students tolerable of her if not friendly. Yet she refused to socialize with anyone deeper than being just classmates. She waved them off and deflected them with sugar coated smiles so that no one could ever hate her. So that no one could ever get close enough to touch her.

Then it changed.

Melody had taken ill earlier that day. Nathaniel had no papers that needed grading and he didn't feel like wandering from the classroom. He wondered briefly if he had caught the illness his friend had.

He waved it off because he felt a little hunger pain. Melody had been having violent tosses of her stomach even at the mention of food. As he briefly debated going to wrestle some food from the cafeteria there was something shoved under his nose.

It startled Nathaniel from his reverie and he blinked as he turned his head to see who was offering him food. One look at the fluffy hair was all it took and it threw him off more.

"Want some?" Lizzie asked, plopping herself onto the desk in front of him cross legged.

Nathaniel blinked again as looked at the sandwich in her outstretched hand. It looked like two pieces of white bread with some sort of rainbow, brightly colored things between them.

"What on earth is that?" He felt compelled to ask, first mistake.

"A gummi bear sandwich of course," Lizzie smiled brightly, "don't you want to try it?"

"Of course." Nathaniel echoed, his eyes narrowing in distaste. He wondered if wherever she came from actually had such a regular diet of gelatin sweets, resolving never to wander there.

"What?" He asked when she continued to stare at him with her hand reaching.

"Who are you again?" Lizzie asked with the obscene cheerfulness that carried her through the days.

He didn't take offense. They had never socialized beyond the first meeting and they didn't belong to the same crowd. So he told her his name. Mistake number two.

"Hmm well then Natty-catty do you want some or not?"

Cold water would have been less shocking.

"I have more stuff too. Tabasco cookies, some chocolate apples-"

"Listen-"Before Nathaniel could finish he found his mouth full of the most sickeningly sweet thing he had ever had the misfortune of having against his taste buds.

He recoiled away with a bite of the gummi bear sandwich. It tasted vile, absolutely vile; his teeth ached just from thinking about it let alone tasting it. He longed to spit it out but he couldn't since it would be rude in front of the horrified students remaining in the class. He wanted to yell at Lizzie and strangle her but reined the urge in because she was a girl.

"Good isn't it?" Lizzie asked with a smile.

Nathaniel forced himself to swallow and stood in shock, torn between commenting on her audacity and removing himself from the situation. Finally he shook himself from his shock and left the room.

It settled down after that. Weeks passed and she didn't bother him again and he put it down to a freak occurrence. He should have paid more attention. Maybe if he had he could have foreseen that Lizzie had an evil mind and she had targeted him.

It was during the beginning he regretted being the president. Because every stupidity she involved herself with he was the one who had to be present as she was reamed and scolded by the principal and teachers. It got to the point when he was called to the council room or teachers lounge he would only sigh and clutch his clipboard.

To list all of her stupid actions would take a year. The ones that stuck in his mind though and replayed where these:

Throwing all the clocks off the school roof. Lizzie hadn't even tried to run. She had been found looking over the roof and staring down at the shattered clocks. When dragged to the teachers lounge she had grinned disarmingly at the principal and said she wanted to see time fly.

She was told to pay for all the school clocks she had destroyed. She never did.

Then she filled the swimming pool with fish. In this one she had never been caught but Nathaniel knew it was her. A week earlier she had asked him casually what he thought about all the poor stray starving cats around the neighborhood.

He might not have made the connection if she hadn't let loose a sack full of cats to prey on the fish. She took his scolding in stride and said that even cats deserved a buffet every now and again.

She somehow stole the cafeterias supply of muffins for three days straight in order to make a life sized muffin man, while whistling the muffin man song. She would have made a muffin woman and child if the teachers hadn't shown up to haul her off.

Each of these times Nathaniel trailed behind to the teachers' lounge wondering what god he had offended.

On the day she was to serve her detention for one of her long list of idiocies he was the one responsible for watching her. The first half went smoothly if one could ignore her frequent "I'm bored" and random interjections. Then Nathaniel recalled he had forgotten to put back an important file in the council room.

"If I leave you in here for a few minutes can you stay out o trouble?" He asked Lizzie seriously.

The salute and cheerful grin weren't very reassuring. Regardless Nathaniel rushed to return the file. He returned a few minutes later to find an empty classroom.

It made him feel slightly sick. How could anyone be this much trouble? If he wanted this then he would have stayed close to Castiel.

He searched the halls for about ten minutes before finding the door to the roof standing wide open. Nathaniel sighed. Either she had gotten hold of the keys again or Castiel had and was being careless about hiding it. They wee the only two who liked the roof.

He noticed her the minute he set foot on the roof. She turned to him when he said her name sharply. He noticed, he would be less than a male if he didn't notice; she had removed her jacket and pulled off her over shirt, leaving her in a spaghetti strap. Strands of hair swished across her face as the wind blew around them.

"What are you doing up here?" Nathaniel demanded.

"I like it up here," Lizzie replied blithely, "What are you doing here?"

Nathaniel grimaced a little as he stepped closer. "Chasing after you. You're supposed to be in detention."

Lizzie shrugged and turned back to the rail, eyes opened up to the sky. "Doesn't being up here make you want to sing at the top of your lungs?"

"No."

Lizzie must not have been listening to him. Before he could demand her return to the classroom to finish her detention she gave him a wild grin and vaulted up and over the rail. Nathaniel gaped at her as she found a precarious balance on the paper thin ledge, hands grasping the rails behind her, bellowing at the top of her lungs.

"I have to go oooouuuuut tonight!"

Nathaniel winced and resisted the urge to cover his ears. She sounded appalling. It was worse than a million cats being run over by a car repeatedly.

"Would you cut that out?" He snapped.

She ignored him in favor of bellowing out words to cell block tango, leaning out and keeping only one hand on the rails now.

"Lizzie you need to come face your responsibilities." Nathaniel coughed uncomfortably, covering his face with his hand to rub his forehead.

"-if you'd a seen it! I bet ya you would have-"She stopped suddenly.

Nathaniel had a split second to react. He barely lunged in time, just as her foot slipped from the edge. After he didn't know whether to categorize it as mistake number three or success number one.

"You idiot." He said.

He felt a curious mixture of anger and exhaustion, wondering what would have happened had he not made it in time. What would have happened if he hadn't grabbed her wrist in time or if he hadn't been able to pull her back?

He hauled her back over and they went flying across the roof where they lay panting for breath. Nathaniel cursed inside his head and felt his heart continue to race from adrenaline. He was almost paralyzed with stun at how fast it beat and the fact he was feeling that fear.

Yet close to him he heard no wheezing breaths. He heard tiny chuckles. Tiny chuckles that quickly turned to snorts and then big blown out laughs.

"That was fun!"

"Fun?" Nathaniel shot up in surprise. "You almost died!"

It was then that Nathaniel realized the core of why she made him uneasy and exhausted him. It wasn't just she gave him mountains of paperwork with all her stunts or that she had taken up bothering him for random things. They were part of it. But it was so much more than that that annoyed him.

Lizzie had a total disregard for life.

If Nathaniel had not been there to catch her, she would have plunged to her death still laughing at the top of her lungs. She didn't seem to care if she died or not, didn't care what happened around her. He couldn't understand whether everything was just deliriously fun to her that she couldn't tell when she was spinning close to oblivion or if she had just been desensitized to everything until there was no longer a sense of danger.

"Detentions over," she said with a wicked smile at him, "Unless you're gonna make me stay late?"

"I can't see much point in it," Nathaniel sighed and pushed himself into a sitting position.

Despite the fact he was aware he needed to get home he made no move to get up. Lizzie was digging around in her bag.

"Something wrong," She asked when she had finished her rummaging to pull out a sandwich.

Pure curiosity made him look at it and he again felt revulsion. Some sort of red sauce was oozing between the bread. It didn't smell like ketchup though. Not that he would have found it any less repulsive or her any saner. It smelled like an acrid spice, making him think Tabasco.

"How can you eat that stuff?" He asked after he got over the initial shock of the fact she had taken a huge chunk of it off and was chewing it with relish.

"It's good. Wanna try?"

Nathaniel shook his head and scooted a little away before she pulled another stunt of shoving it in his mouth.

"So… family problems?" She asked knowingly.

"What?"

"You're still sitting here," she swallowed her food, "So you must not wanna go."

"So are you." He pointed out.

"My Aunt lets me do whatever I want!"

It was a good thing she had the attention span of a goldfish because she didn't press and didn't notice the way his eyes slid away, his mind turning to his father.

If only he knew then that the fluffy blond paid more attention to things then anyone thought her capable.

End chapter

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Author note: For once I don't even have words for this. I never made a character like her before… not to this degree at least. Can you all tell I'm challenging myself to improve my writing range lately? Anyway I hope you all liked!

She's singing Mia's song "out tonight" and then cell block tango by the way…


	2. Cleaning is Trouble

_**Author note:**_ Hmm somehow out of all my stories this is the one to become the first updated… ah well.

_**Owldistraction:**_ Haa well she is reckless. I have a friend like her actually and I do get annoyed with her. She calls it being an adreneline junky... my thoughts... bleh. But there is a reason Lizzie is like this in the beginning of this story. I promise she's deeper than some might be thinking, believe me there. Now I'm curious though. What were you trying to say about her character? Anyway Hope you enjoy this chappie as well.

_**Germandelights:**_ My loyalist! Hope you enjoyed your request fic, hehe. Anyway I hope so. Adorable though? I aim for her to be a tornado!... for now at least. Hope you like this too!

_**Sparkfirebug:** _It was deep? Hmm, I feel bad I can't see it. Oh well, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Heres hoping this one is good for you too!

_**Disclaimer:**_ Nope, nope, nope… OC's… yes!

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Chapter start

Nathaniel hadn't been able to remain in that house for longer than strictly necessary. Amber had been in a tizzy, sobbing, and hysterical mess over the fact she had been suspended. Never mind the fact she deserved it. People couldn't act like she did without a consequence. Apparently when it was her the only consequence was to be felt by him.

The thought was accompanied by an unwelcome throb from his back. He was so used to it that he didn't even twitch.

He loved his sister… really, he did. But there were times when he felt she could have been less of a brat, maybe paid attention to what her actions made him suffer.

It was useless to dwell on.

He had walked to school today. Nathaniel was passing a classroom when he was halted.

"Ah Nathaniel! You're here early," the principal was sitting beside the English teacher, an apple shaped woman.

A small smile made its way to his face. "I have a lot of work today."

The principal beamed at him rewardingly. "That's so like you! Always so punctual and studious. If only my own kids had taken a page from your book!"

If only someone else could appreciate the book," he thought with just a little sour discontent.

"Now then go on miss Peters," she said with a new serious expression on her face.

"Well… I'm rather surprised how well Lizzie has been doing. With how her record is I was concerned." A small laugh.

Lizzie… it took a moment for his head to shift gears but when he did he could already feel the headache. Her record was an understatement. There was more paperwork on her already than Castiel even.

"Well she definitely has quite… an enthusiasm," the principal hesitated on the word. "But so long as her grades are there I suppose we can't do anything if the guardian isn't interested. It's a shame really."

Nathaniel wasn't sure why he still stood there. It wasn't as if he was searching for a reason s to why she was how she was. She was crazy and different and she liked to lavish odd tortures onto the class hamster like feeding it gummi bears.

Maybe it had become ingrained. For some reason every time he heard that girl's name he was dragged into something, an hour of paperwork, trying to track her down to sign a note, returning the electronics she lost during class.

"I was wondering does her family move a lot or something," the teacher asked.

Principal leaned back in her chair. "As far as I am aware she has lived in the same house with her Aunt for the past ten years. But she hasn't ever stayed in the same school more than a year or two. Funny thing is she wasn't kicked out of them."

Now that was… unbelievable…

"Probably some thing that wasn't recorded down."

So Lizzie transferred a lot. It was annoying to find he was curious as to why. The only way to know would be to ask her and that was likely to get him in trouble of some kind.

Shaking his head slightly he left the classroom to retreat to the council room. If he was super lucky he could knock out a healthy chunk of paperwork before the other students arrived to be noisy and disruptive.

The door was ajar… and he could hear rustling.

Nathaniel pushed it open more and froze.

It wasn't so much the council room was always a model of neatness. But this was the mother of messes, the mess that tore the other ones to shreds. His breath actually halted at the fact if he took a step in he'd be buried, sinking in papers.

Suddenly a pile moved. Nathaniel jumped when papers scattered up into the air with quick jerky movements and a head popped out. The person hissed in frustration as she turned and suddenly dove again.

Why wasn't he shocked again?

"Lizzie!" He ground her name out, unable to leash the slowly growing frustration.

The fluffy head popped out again and blue eyes focused on him. It struck him suddenly that the eyes were the color of a cloudless sky exactly. Nor did they give anything, just like that cloudless sky. A marble showed more.

"What are you doing," he asked lowly.

She tilted her head and gave him a pout. "I forgot to get my Ipod back from you yesterday and I wanted to listen to it."

"So you decided to go swimming through all the important paperwork!"

"It isn't my fault Natty-catty! I've been looking for two hours now, you should have left it out," she grinned unabashedly.

Two hours… she would be that damned uncoordinated as to spend two hours in the mess. She must have gone through everything four times at least!

"How did you get in here anyway," he asked and decided to ignore the fact she had the brain of a peanut to spend so long in here and the nickname. How didn't the teachers hear this going on?

If anything she looked proud of herself which made him a little sick. He wouldn't like this at all.

"I used this!" She brandished a hair clip.

Of course she had picked the lock. Why would he be any less shocked by that then to hear she had stolen the keys or something else, like busted a window?

Despite his intense reluctance he had to brave the mess. Lizzie had gone back to sifting around looking for her precious electronic. He didn't bother to yell at her. His voice would go hoarse trying to prove any point to her or make a scolding stick.

"Next time why don't you just wait until regular school hours," Nathaniel muttered irritably.

"It's a really good song," she whined a little. "'They're coming to take me away' by Neuroticfish. Ever heard it?"

He actually had. Against his will the lyrics filtered through his brain. That would be a song she liked. She was just as insane as the man who came up with that annoying garbage.

"Someone needs to come take you away," he said it a tad sullenly, unable to resist when usually he wouldn't have wanted t insult a girl.

Lizzie laughed suddenly. "When they do I'll be happy to see those men with their clean white coats!"

Nathaniel sighed tiredly when he finally reached a drawer. It was a combination lock which was probably the only thing that had saved it from being torn open and scattered.

He extracted the small plastic Ipod and lifted it so she could see. "Happy?"

Lizzie smiled brightly and grabbed it from him. "Thanks Natty-catty!"

"Hold it!" he snapped when she began to wade to the door.

"Eh? Want something Natty?"

He grimaced when she dropped her nickname again. "You are not leaving this mess."

She actually began to shuffle backwards slowly. Nathaniel narrowed his golden eyes at her and she stopped and smiled, and god why was she always grinning? It was like nothing bothered her, nothing beyond the short bursts of things she might want.

But still if he got one thing out of her she would not leave him with this ridiculous mess.

But Natty! I can't clean at all," she said with a laugh.

"No way! You're staying here and cleaning this up," he said with real authority.

"Oh what, can't a big strong guy like you clean this up by yourself," she asked with a chuckle, probably amused by something that wasn't amusing at all in any way.

He knew what she was doing. However as Nathaniel hadn't made any of this mess he wasn't going to let it be dumped all on him.

"It isn't a matter of if I can or not. The matter is the fact you did this."

"Oh come on! We have an hour and a half before classes start, let's go have some fun," Lizzie said with a smile meant to disarm.

"No."

She was prepared to do back flips to avoid the work. Of course, why had he expected anything else?

It was what everyone did. They would leave messes and break things without any regard for the Nathaniel's of the world that were left to try and clean it and put it back together again.

She was just like everyone else in the end. She was just like everyone else, going about their way and enjoying life without care for anyone else she couldn't connect to and understand. She could go, in fact. She could go and he could let her fade back into another indistinct face in a crowd that he knew nothing about beyond the name.

"Fine," he snapped. "You'd probably just make it worse anyway."

"Definitely," she affirmed.

"You can go," he said firmly.

"Awesome! See ya!"

To say Nathaniel wasn't a tad disappointed in the human race at the moment would have been total bull. But life went on didn't it?

And he had been mildly curious about this human who seemed to care only for herself. With a roll of his eyes he turned from her and bent to retrieve some papers. He had seriously needed to get that paperwork done today too. Now he would be seriously behind if not lost.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Apparently she hadn't even made it out the door before she came crawling back to further annoy him. Lucky him.

"Cleaning," he said shortly.

Nathaniel could feel her drilling holes in the back of his head but he was adamant about not looking at her. Even though he wanted to know what she was searching for, what she was thinking as she looked at him he refused to return her gaze again.

"Fine," she muttered and bent to snatch more papers up. "Where do these even go?"

Lizzie hadn't been lying when she said she was terrible at cleaning. She was so inept that it took them twice as long, not including the interval when she had been taken with the idea the class hamster, which she had 'affectionately' began calling Hamstring, would make a fine sponge.

Nathaniel had grabbed her around the shirt of her collar before she could bolt to torment the hamster again, nearly choking her. After he had firmly put that idea down she began cleaning with a new vigor with extreme attention to one spot, causing a small lull between them where nothing could be heard but the swish of papers.

Except it didn't last long. By the time it did happen again, the broken silence, the council room was clean again except for a few papers here and there.

This time by his own hand she started speaking.

"What did the hamster ever do to you," he asked. He wondered how it would look if she killed the thing and he knew about it.

"Oh… you mean Hamstring?"

"Its name is Snowflake," he said calmly.

She grinned and shrugged. "It's a se~cr~et!" She said in a singsong voice and he grimaced.

Snowflake was fat, stupid, and lazy and didn't do any real good for the class but he sure as heck didn't do any harm. He surely didn't deserve this kind of treatment.

"Leave the hamster alone."

"I won't kill it! If it isn't going to die from eating gummi bears and a couple cookies then it's fine."

"Lizzie-"

"Oh alright," she sighed and then jumped up. "But then… I guess that makes you my new pet!"

Nathaniel gaped at her. She suddenly skipped over to the now spotless council desk where she had dropped her bag and dug through it.

Pet? She wanted him to be a pet? Not even she could be that insane.

'Ta-da!"

Nathaniel looked out of instinct, recognizing a sense of danger. His eyes widened as she brandished a collar and leash at him.

Oh… he knew what she wanted now. And there was just no way in hell. He didn't even have to ask her why she had it or why she was randomly carrying it in her bag, didn't want to know with any fiber of his being.

"I'm not wearing that thing!" He snapped, feeling a return of his frustration.

"Wha-? But its so you!"

"I said no," he snapped again and turned away.

Mistake number… oh he couldn't even count them anymore with this girl. At the very least now he knew not to put anything past her.

Nathaniel should have known she wouldn't give in so easy. He just didn't expect her to actually pounce on his back of all things and on all days! What was she, a freaking monkey?

Instinctively he grabbed a chair and sent it toppling as he fell and they both crashed to the floor. She was frozen for a second, stunned probably. Despite his throbbing back he tried to shift to see if she was alright.

"Are you- cut that out!"

His concern was ripped way when he felt her hands on his neck, trying to maneuver the collar.

"For the last time… I said… no!"

Despite the pain it caused his back he still tried to shift her weight and his. Finally she fell from his back with an 'oomph' and he rolled to prison her and wrestle the collar from her. He had just sent it skittering under a filing cabinet when the door swung open again to reveal the principal… and Melody, of all people!

The immediate weight of his sudden position, both literally and figuratively, slammed into him. Here he was, student body president, on top of a girl whose shirt had ridden up, had her legs wrapped around his hips to try and dislodge him, but they wouldn't know that part, and he held both her wrists above her head in one hand while his other had come to rest beside her hair as though he would bend to kiss her.

"Oh my goodness," the principal breathed, no doubt unable to process her best and most responsible student preparing to... in the council room no less!

"N-n- Nathaniel?"

Melody just looked a little sick as she seemed to shrink. The look on her face hurt him even if he didn't feel the same way about her. He would never throw another girl in her face though and certainly would never be in this position!

He glanced down to see how Lizzie was taking this. She wasn't even focused on the newcomers to the room. She was staring with hard concentration to his chest but not his chest. It was as though he could see through his body to something that interested her greatly. A small bit of curiosity bloomed within him despite the moment but he beat it down. No way would he be spending anymore time with this walking, talking, fluffy headed trouble causing tornado!

He knew one thing and it was all he needed to know in that instant… he was screwed!

End chapter

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_**Author note:**_ Hum… okay I just want to remind there is a reason for the way Lizzie is. She isn't just crazy for no reason. I'll show you all why very soon, promise! And also she isn't trying to be cruel to the hamster. I don't stand for cruelty of animals. As far as she's concerned feeding it sweets is alright and believe me I've seen hamsters eat worse than gummi bears and live. As for using him as a sponge… she wouldn't have, in the end she would have forgotten all about that and just wandered off with it probably.


	3. Let's have fun doing nada!

_**Author note:**_ you know this story is really getting to me. I think it was exactly what I needed, something crazy and fun after writing Awakening. I guess that's why I'm updating so fast too. If you read Shade of Lies I'm waiting for a tie breaker review but if one doesn't show up in about two more days I'll break it myself or something. Enjoy!

_**Owldistraction:** _It's amazing that you caught that, I didn't think anyone would! See I imagine she must have been aware of something being off when she jumped on his back, like Nathaniel tensed more than she thought he would or he grit his teeth in pain. So yes, she was tring to figure out what was up in her head and she knew it was something with his back so she foucused there... As for the why she is this way... soon. It will slowly become clear. I'm dropping little things in her words too now, little key parts to her way of thinking. I hope you like this chapter as well!

_**Germandelights:**_ I did! And I'll write that request out as soon as the inspiration spider bites. You want to know what's wrong with her too, hmm? I'll let you all in on it soon. As for the chappie lengths I know these aren't nearly so long as the Awakening chapters. But I had a lot more I needed to express in each of those chapters and I wanted to make sure it was cleanly written and lengthy enough to give people something to chew on. This is just fun and, though I'm treating it just as seriously as I did Awakening, I don't think it needs 5000+ words to get everything out and explained right. Anywho enjoy this!

_**Mainnaise:** _Another loyal! I get to see more of your turtle avatar after all! I'm glad it made you laugh. This character sure is different than my last batch of OC's isn't she? Heehehe I hope you like this too.

_**Deadlyanimalsarecute:**_ I want to see him in a collar too. Chino should draw it for us! I think I maybe, maybe, made up for it here. Well she isn't brain damaged or mental. But she isn't actively trying to be... I still don't have a good word for her. She does have her reasons and they might not make sense but to her they do. She's twisted with good cause? I gues is what I mean... I can't explain either! Failed author understanding her character alert! Beyond that I hope you like this.

_**Sparkfirebug:**_ Heehee belive I understand. I always think things are deep or tearful when everyone else around me is just like... why? Like when Dobby the elf died... oh yeah, water work time! And all my friends were just looking at me like 'is this girl serious, he's fake!' I'm glad you liked it though. I hope you continue to likey!

_**Disclaimer:**_ Gah… no

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Chapter start

"You two seem to be very… close," Melody had said to him with that expression of little-girl-hurt. Nathaniel had found himself wondering if Lizzie could pull that expression off too or if all she was capable of was a pouting caricature of real emotions.

That sentence echoed through his brain the rest of the week. Thankfully the Principal had believed him when he claimed it had been a misunderstanding. Perks of being a top student he guessed. He did know that it had spared his body the immense pain he would have been feeling had his Father heard about it.

It was now a weekend and Nathaniel had finished his work. Now all he had to do was sit and wait for Monday while listening to Amber whine that she had to go back to school now. He didn't get her. She had complained about suspension and now she complained about the return, making his head hurt. His mother was fluttering her hands helplessly at her precious daughter. His Father was being indulgent.

And he was being bored.

"Nathaniel! Someone's at the door for you," his mother called him down.

Nathaniel frowned as he glanced up from the novel he was reading. As far as he could recall he didn't have plans with anybody. Melody would on occasion drop by with the randomness of a bird but she would call ten minutes before arrival so they didn't have to linger.

With a small sigh he wondered if there was an emergency and it was enough to have him setting his book aside and going down the stairs slowly.

His mother looked confused and why not? Visitors for Amber were common but for him, Nathaniel never formed attachments that would lead to visitors for him being common.

Despite that confusion she left him alone as soon as he was on the landing and he wished she hadn't as soon as he registered who was there grinning like a fool with a small wave.

Naturally he tried to slam the door off of reflex. He had been so good! He had stayed true to his goal of not associating with Miss Disaster for the whole week. It just wasn't right for her to pop out of the woodwork like this when his guard was rightfully down!

Unfortunately she was quick and the door wouldn't budge. He glanced down and rolled his eyes when he found a novel wedged in the crack.

"Oh hey come on Natty-catty! This isn't any way to treat a greeter!" She laughed chipperly.

Nathaniel grit his teeth. "I knew it! You really are stalking me!"

"Of course I'm not," Lizzie laughed again. "I got your address from that Melody girl."

A small trickle of worry slithered around his brain. Melody gave his address up? No way. It was a startling enough thought that his grip on the door slackened. With the lack of resistance the door swung open and Lizzie stepped calmly in and grinned.

"What a nice place! How've you been Natty?"

"Melody gave you my number," he asked lowly, thinking this to be important. Had he ticked the polite girl off and this was revenge or had Lizzie done something corrupt to get the knowledge.

Lizzie nodded. "Yeah the one with a camcorder attached to her side. She knows everything."

A breath of relief left him and he sighed, already exhausted. How could one person knock his brain through such a training course in less than three minutes?

"That's Peggy," he told her as he rubbed his forehead.

Lizzie shrugged unrepentant. "Same thing!"

"And why are you here?"

"To see you of course. Wow, I didn't think Natty-catty was so scatterbrained."

And that, ladies and gentleman, was a kettle calling the pot black. Nathaniel could only look at the fluffy haired blond in resignation as he wondered bleakly what he had done to deserve this. He must have surely offended some deity because fate just couldn't like to kick him around so much.

"Nathaniel what is all the racket?!"

Racket? Yes, Lizzie did have issues with an inside voice and an outside voice. She was always on loud speaker unless she was sleeping which she had a particularly strong habit of doing in classes, irking Nathaniel to know end since it led to detentions and paperwork on his already heavy load.

The teachers had begun expecting him to supervise her detentions singularly because she didn't wander from him as often as she did with them. Her most notable vanishing act had been when her detention had been close to the gardening club and she charmed Boris into going and getting her a bottle of water and had snuck out the window to pick flowers with the intention of peeling the buds off to scatter from the school roof.

Now though Nathaniel felt dread because it was his Father asking. He turned away from Lizzie and tried to remain calm as he swallowed a little before meeting his Father's eyes. His golden eyes were on fire with anger and Nathaniel barely resisted the urge to fidget, his Father hated fidgeting.

"Well," he snapped, apparently unable to see Lizzie because she had ducked behind Nathaniel and was much shorter than him.

Nathaniel felt a small hand against his back and tensed a little, wondering if she was trying to offer support or comfort and this was mortifying, absolutely mortifying, that a classmate would be seeing this, seeing his Father's anger, and what if he got struck in this moment in front of her? She could go around the school cataloguing it merrily! She'd probably sit with Peggy, who'd she be calling Melody, and the reporter girl wouldn't correct her because what a juicy scoop, the president getting abused at home!

"I asked you a question!"

She was peeking under his shirt now! Nathaniel was torn between answering her and twirling around to grab her before she saw. But she had already seen and was now tracing a bruise with soft strokes until she finally tucked the shirt back down and popped out at his side.

"Hi there! You must be Nathaniel's dad! I'm a classmate, name's Lizzie. Isn't it a lovely day out," She began, talking so swiftly that nobody could get a word in edgewise. "So sunny and sparkly and the river in the park looks so great for swimming, probably not a good idea though, who knows what bums bathe in it."

Nathaniel felt a bead of sweat begin making its way down his forehead as his mother and Amber came to see who the too loud voice was. He saw the sudden panic in his mothers eyes as she became aware someone outside of the immediate family had heard her husband yelling threateningly, saw the curiosity in Amber's, saw the realization in his Father's that had he struck Nathaniel in that instant he'd have been screwed.

And Lizzie still kept talking and for once Nathaniel wished she'd never stop because when she stopped there would surely be heavy consequences. He didn't care if she ran through the dictionary twice and made words up and stopped making sense. She never did anyway.

"-so you see Natty-catty helped me out of a real bad jam and even though he refused to wear the pretty necklace I brought him I figured I'd be generous and say thank you. So here I am on a Saturday. See, I woke up and it was just so pretty out and we all know what a little book worm Natty is so I thought I would drag him out for some fun in the sun and thank him for being so understanding of the fact I trashed the council room. Though really I think cleaning it was a big enough thank you but anyway, he can't stay cooped up forever in his room!"

When did this girl breathe? That was the question on all three family members brains as they fought to process the way her words seemed to slip around every conventional way of communication to become jumbled and confusing.

"You know you have a really terrific and should really appreciate him. I bet he'll be one of those richly guys with the real good job like a doctor or a lawyer, maybe not lawyer because they aren't really in high demand right now, who can pay for one you know? But a doctor, yeah, I could totally see that couldn't you? Or a mad scientist! We could ruffle his hair up and ta-da he'd be perfect!"

"Oh gosh I've rambled! I tend to do that when I eat too much sugar. We'll be going now! Don't want to miss this pretty day; all of you shouldn't stay cooped up for too long either. I'd say come along but it's a busy day and I might need him to clean my room, he's so much better at cleaning than me. Unless you guys want to help too? No? Okay, see you all! Natty say bye-bye now."

And with that Nathaniel found she had grabbed his hand and swung him behind her and began backing to the door, forcing him to back up or else she'd slam into him and they'd fall over. As it was she was moving so swiftly that he was having a hard time staying on his feet.

"Oh yeah and tomorrows Sunday I was gonna steal him again! We have plans to go to the beach. I can't wait to see a shirtless Natty-catty," she squealed and Nathaniel stopped because, for a moment, her expression had changed.

The smile had remained yet it seemed more forced, faker than usual, her eyes had opened and there was an undistinguishable emotion in them as she looked at his Father. A knowing look as though she was aware of more than she should have been and he saw the answering awareness in his Father's eyes.

"Don't worry I'll have him back in decent time!"

She closed the door behind her, letting it swing as she turned and hopped down the porch steps. Nathaniel was frozen as he watched her, his mind trying to take the same leap and bounds hers was demanding of him. His eyes turned to the now closed door, wondering bleakly what his Father would do if he opened it back up and tried to go huddle under his covers for the rest of the weekend.

He didn't have his keys, his money, anything.

Had that been a subtle warning for his Father? Or just another random thing that had tumbled from the lips belonging to a true idiot?

"Natty-Catty!"

He turned wearily, so used to that name now he responded to it. Lucky for him or else it would have been her planting another bruise along him. As it was his hands stung when he caught the novel that came too close to smacking his face.

He glanced down at it and read the cover. It was a book called 'The psychiatrist" and was about a doctor who found himself involved in a string of murders and he believed one of his clients was the killer. Nathaniel had been curious about it and intended to buy it later in the week.

He flicked his eyes up to her and the look could only be called puzzled. Lizzie was grinning again and had her hands behind her head as she danced on her feet restlessly.

"Like it," she wondered aloud.

"Yes… thank you," he added hastily when the words didn't seem to want to come naturally, nonplussed as he was. "About what you saw-"

"Let's go, go, go! We can't waste such a pretty day or a second of fun," she interrupted and came forward to grab his hand and tug.

"Lizzie, I'm being serious," he said and refused to budge.

She glanced at him with a tilt to her head and her eyes were shocked. It wasn't every day he remained so calm after all and he supposed with his usual reactions to her tugging and irritating ways it was unusual for him not to have a headache by now or have a raised voice.

"What you saw-"

"O~oh forget it," she said with a giggle.

"But it's-"she actually used her hand to smother his words.

"No. If you want people to know you'll tell them. Other than that is isn't my business unless you make it that way or I want it to be. Now let's go!"

So he followed her. He couldn't say he had much choice since going back into the house would have been too volatile. Still after an hour he was wishing that maybe he had. It seemed she had simply wanted him to pull off a bevy of massive schemes.

"So," he asked with an arched brow when they had wandered into the very middle of Sweet Amoris square. "What was the point of dragging me with you?"

"You are the one who will help me with my plan for world domination!" She said and pointed at him.

"Excuse me," he gave her a blank stare until she laughed and smacked him lightly on the forehead.

"You shouldn't frown so much. Wrinkles don't go with gold hair!" Would she ever make sense to him? "In other words I want you to help me advertise for the open house. Its makeup work for a class."

No matter how much Nathaniel protested it didn't matter. Skulls as thick and dense as Lizzie's seemed only to process things at a hundred times slower rate than normal humans.

Her loose idea of 'helping' was nothing more than a series of complex and ineffective plans designed, Nathaniel felt, to embarrass him and lead him to an early grave.

She dragged him all over the town and they handed out leaflets and she made him wear a pair of kitty ears on his head until deciding a full kitten suit would be better. When he managed to put his foot firmly down she pouted a bit before she decided to piss the residents off by bellowing at the top of her lungs to come to the open house.

Not to mention on the way she showed her attention span of a Nat by buying junk food every few steps. Nathaniel consumed more horrible swill then he thought healthy, more than he consumed in a year, in those hours. Too much sugar and caffeine just made him tired but it gave her a boost.

By the time she was satisfied that they had done everything humanly possible to have their pictures put in the dictionary next to the word 'fool' it was getting dark. It startled Nathaniel to realize it and the fact time had gone so quick.

Somehow they ended up at the park and beside the river that wound through it and most of the small town. It was rather pretty, the setting sun glinting off its peaceful and un-rippling surface. Lizzie slid down the bank after mentioning they should take a break.

It took him a moment to follow her and by the time he reached her she had fallen back to stare up at the sky and breath deeply. He sat beside her and glanced at her before he turned to the river, pulling his legs up so he could cradle his head against his arms.

It had been a long time, he realized with a grimace, that he'd had a day like this. A day that swam by without him being very aware of the time. A day that he spent with someone, no matter how reluctantly, doing nothing particularly important or meaningful, and found that he had enjoyed it, despite the fact he had been saddled with an over-active transfer student whom he'd known for less than two weeks.

Was it because of her strange personality that people seemed drawn to her, compelled to try and solve the puzzle she was? Normal convictions didn't seem to hold her at all and she seemed to have little care for the world around her. What must it have been like in her head… a world of what interested her and the things, the people, that didn't simply didn't register?

Was it because Nathaniel had shown a mild tolerance to her that he had been the one she collected for the day or had he been a convenient dupe for her to use?

"Are you tired?" she asked curiously.

"… Being around you is tiring. Why are you so active all the time," he said with a small sigh, giving in to curiosity he felt would be better buried.

"I want to," she answered with a grin. "Be proud of yourself. So far you're the only one to keep up this long."

It wasn't something he would be sticking on a resume. Talents, dealing with idiots and keeping up with their stupidity successfully. Yeah… no.

"The way you live though. Why do you have such reckless behavior towards everything?"

He finally gave in totally and asked. It had been eating him, what the hell was wrong with her? She wasn't insane in a clinical sense; he had looked at her file. Believe him that had been his first stop after her first round of stunts. She hadn't even been diagnosed with ADHD and that had struck him as stupid and odd.

Instead of answering him she pushed into a sitting position and looked at the way the sun sparkled on the water as though it was fascinating and held the answer of life.

"I just hate having to slow down for others."

Really, he should have asked. Instead of letting her laugh it off, instead of letting the silence lengthen, instead of letting her get up, instead of letting her wave and leave at a run. He should have asked.

Things might have gone so much smoother had he simply asked then and forced the answers from her, pinned her down and demanded them no matter how unwilling she would have been.

end chapter

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_**Author note:**_ Soon… my evil brain will show you all the way of this story. Muahahaha! Nah… it isn't evil. Though it does have some dark undercurrents, I mean… kinda expected right? I never was a complete fluff or humorous writer and I have Nathaniel getting abused so it should be expected, some kind of result from that. Anyway… hope you liked!


	4. Worry fail

_**Author note:**_ Here we go!

_**Mainnaise:**_ We're keeping showdown scores now? Haha but yes, Lizzie totally beat Nathaniel's dad for this round. Glad you liked!

_**Owldistraction:**_ See I told you there's more to lizzie than ditzy dumbness! And she'll become more easy to understand as time goes on. Whether she knew for a fact who hurt Nathaniel who knows? She has moments muaha. As for pairings I'm unsure if I just want friendship pairings or more just yet but I don't like him with Melody either. In the end she was just the girl MCL had as your rival for him so I put her in sparingly... oh so sparingly. In the end wherever the story takes me is what I'll write so pairings are in the air for now! Anywho I'm glad you love little Lizzie despite her crazy personality. Hope you keep liking!

_**sparkfirebug:** _Isn't he though? I'm really hoping the game will give some other reason for those bruises eventually but it seems I may not get my wish for awhile. In the manga he does judo apparently so I wonder... but then all those hints of Chinos with having Amber say that! Gah... Anyway you'll see soon enough, I promise!

_**Germandelights:**_ Your confusing mah stories girl! Nettie is in Lies, Lizzie is this one. Naughty you. But yes... both girls are probably hiding things in both stories muahahaha. You know how I am with my OC's, they're crazy layered. I'll let you decide if she was just being ditzy as usual or if she was trying to maneuver Nat away from his father in her oh so unsubtle way. Nah, give your crazy theories I love em. Hope you enjoy!

_**Rose14799:**_ Ah you're here too? Heehee this is great! I love your theories. We shall see if you are correct in... a few chappies! Hope you like the read!

_**Disclaimer:**_ Lizzie is mines.

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Chapter start

She did in fact show up on Sunday far too early for anyone. She didn't however wake anyone but Nathaniel up.

Nathaniel shook his head at the memory of her suddenly and startlingly being in his room, proudly brandishing his keys that she had picked pocketed him from the night before. He had been wondering where they were…

They didn't go to the beach however. Instead they ended up wandering the town with no real motive again. Nathaniel was getting slowly used to her random flight patterns and had learned it was best to simply go with the flow.

Besides at four in the morning he wasn't at his best game of arguing with Lizzie.

That hadn't been an unusual day when one was in the company of the fluffy blond. It was the next day that odd things started up.

Lizzie was not in class. Nor the next day… or the day after. And not after that either.

Nathaniel tried not to but he couldn't help but look to her seat whenever he stepped into first bell only to find it empty of the spazzy girl. It had become like a beacon, that damned desk that she had doodled on, despite how he tried to outlaw any thought from his brain concerning her.

It was only because she had dragged him around for the open house which was now looming near. And when it hit two weeks without her being in class once… he was understandable _NOT_ concerned, just irritated by irresponsibility… yes.

It was much harder to convince him of that when he stopped in front of his number one enemy.

"Hey!"

Castiel glanced up at him under the cover of his hair. He and Lysander were sitting in the courtyard. The grey eyes immediately narrowed into dislike while Nathaniel's could only be called suffering.

"What do you want," Castiel demanded with his arms crossed.

"Do you know Lizzie's address?" Nathaniel asked.

The blank look was rather rewarding. It further proved that she had no taste by hanging around such a horrid guy. Lysander was okay, Nathaniel supposed. But he too lost points for being best friends with such a man.

Castiel recovered quickly. "Why, you wanna start stalking her or something?"

Nathaniel rubbed his temple. Why was that the question he kept getting in return for his own?

"No! She has a lot of work to make up and I have to deliver it."

"You're on your own." Castiel said.

Nathaniel glanced to Lysander who shook his head. "I never asked and she never told me."

With a small sigh Nathaniel nodded and wondered if he'd have to look at her file. It was technically not allowed. He might have been the student body president but the student files were reviewed by teachers only.

He sighed again. He was… not worried. Not at all. It was just that her empty desk was distracting. This was getting annoying however. Finding out her address or number was a lot harder than he had thought it would be. The girl got along with everyone but nobody knew where she lived or had her number? It wasn't a privacy issue Nathaniel was sure because Lizzie was the girl who showed up in a bed sheet one day to try and imitate Rome style of dress.

"Ah Nathaniel! I heard you're trying to stalk Lizzie!"

Nathaniel turned to see a teacher behind him, face reddening a little. He was tempted to punch the next person who accused him of that. Luckily he controlled the urge since it was a teacher.

The teacher stopped him from breaking the rules. They wanted to know where she was too apparently. They handed him piles of work that made him grunt a little from the weight and scribbled her address on a paper.

"There we go," the teacher beamed at him. "Lizzie has called in sick but she has missed a lot of school. Deliver these to her for me."

She had actually called in sick? What did that mean? Diseases filtered through his brain because a simple cold wouldn't keep someone from school for two weeks.

Nathaniel went to her place as soon as school was over, following the very badly written and hardly intelligible directions written on the post-it note. He always wondered, since he went to a public school and since most public schools were horribly short of staff, if the board liked pulling random people of the street to teach. He could even imagine their recruiting campaign.

"_Hey, would you like a teaching job?"_

"_B - But I'm a tramp."_

"_Don't worry, we'll get you cleaned up and they'll never know."_

"_Can I take my beans with me?"_

"_Of course! Why, we'll even pay you in beans!"_

It would also explain why public schools were so strapped for cash, because beans happen to be very expensive unless bought in bulk, but it wasn't a concrete theory.

There was nothing unusual about Lizzie's house, not that He'd been expecting fireworks or giant clocks. It was just a normal house, a little on the plain side, with peeling paint and a whitewashed door and a front garden that was reasonably well kept.

He pressed the bell twice before hearing a rustle of movement. The door swung open to reveal a middle aged woman with glasses.

"Yes?"

"My name is Nathaniel. I'm here to deliver these papers to Lizzie."

"Ah."

Nathaniel waited exactly one minute and thirty seconds of silence before opening his mouth again. "I'm her classmate."

"Right." Her Aunt looked at the sheets curiously but did not take them from his outstretched hands and he felt his eyebrow twitch.

Finally he cleared his throat and the woman blinked. "Oh I suppose you want to see her." She moved away from the door. "Her rooms right up the stairs, first on the left."

"Thank you," Nathaniel said as he stepped around her.

Everything about the house was totally ordinary. There was nothing out of place. It wasn't too clean or too dirty. Maybe that was the issue and why he had a feeling of dread. It was just… too ordinary. There weren't any family pictures anywhere he could see as he climbed the steps, nothing to prove a familial tie between the exuberant Lizzie and the oddly apathetic adult downstairs.

The teacher had said she was sick… what was to be found beyond the door? What kind of illness could keep someone in bed for two whole weeks? More important than that… what state would she be in?

It would be just… odd to see her sickly. Humiliating as it was he might have been slightly worried after all. Worried for the schools newest problem, he the top student. That was irony for you.

"Lizzie?" Nathaniel gently rapped his knuckles against the plain white wash door. There was no answer. He knocked again. "Hey, Lizzie, it's me. I'm coming in, okay?" he spoke loudly and carefully opened his door.

The room was… a mess. Clothes and brightly colored pieces of paper lay strewed amongst the room. A bed and a desk might have lain somewhere in that jungle but there were pillows and sweet wrappers and about a thousand blankets that Nathaniel could hardly tell.

Lizzie sat in front of the television, the only thing that was not buried under junk, surrounded by snacks and pillows, playing some game that Nathaniel had never even heard of.

"Hmm? Oh, Natty-catty!" She waved at him, as bright and cheery as the summer sun and totally healthy.

"Y – You!" Nathaniel was too shocked to speak properly. He had expected to see her lying in bed with a fever or something, not lolling about idly plying games and eating enough gummi bears to start a private army.

Grabbing the closest pillow, Nathaniel hurled it at her, glad when it hit her head and bounced off, hopeful maybe a sign of intelligence would tumble out.

Lizzie swept the pillow into a corner. A bright 'Game over' sign flashed on the screen. "What was that for? Don't randomly attack people!" She cried.

"Maybe if I hit your head a few times it would finally reboot!" Nathaniel growled and dumped the large pile of paper in front of her, at a loss of patience finally.

Lizzie stared at the mass of work as if she hadn't ever seen homework in her life, as if she had forgotten just what homework was. However, he was not going to let her go without finding the cause for the two week absence.

"Why aren't you in school? What is wrong with you?"

Lizzie pulled herself into a sitting position, facing Nathaniel squarely across the jumbled mess of her room. "Nothing. I just decided to skip a few weeks," was all the explanation she was willing to gave.

"A few _weeks_?" Nathaniel stared at her incredulously. "What for?"

"No reason."

"What about the open house? You dragged me all around town for that and seemed excited about it," Nathaniel said lowly and tried to regain his hold on sanity.

"Huh? Oh… I don't care about that anymore."

"Fuck!" Nathaniel exploded and it made Lizzie jump a little and regard him with more interest.

It wasn't often he cussed. It wasn't often he was this angry.

Nathaniel just couldn't believe this utter detachment from society, this level of selfish energy. Lizzie just did whatever the hell she wanted, went with any one of her whims, without care for the convenience or regard of others.

The vicious pounding started in his head as he fought to stay in control. He wouldn't feel right with himself if he reacted violently.

"What's wrong Natty?" Lizzie asked, looking slightly worried as he rubbed his temple to alleviate the pounding.

"Nothing," he muttered tersely. "I just realized what a complete fool I was to ever get involved with someone like you!"

"Huh?"

Nathaniel silenced her with a glance from his now hardened gold eyes. "I'm going home." He said it with relative calm.

Lizzie didn't speak when he calmly left and shut her door. A moment later he poked his head back through, following a rather childish need to alleviate some of his frustrations. "And my name is Nathaniel!"

This time he really did slam her door shut.

Lizzie turned up later in the week. She had all the work completed and correct.

Things between the two were tenser than usual and the whole class felt it. It seemed as though there was a heavy, oppressive silence over the class that had not been there before whenever Nathaniel heard her speak or caught sight of her in the corner of his eye.

Nathaniel went back to how things used to be before she had ever transferred into the school, spending a quarter of his time with Melody who was relieved to have him back it seemed and the rest alone doing duties for the council or teachers. He had never realized until it seemed like he was spending forever by himself how much time that idiot girl took up. He had never noticed it before.

She, however, had found a new plaything in the form of a little, geeky underclassman with coke glasses that followed her blindly wherever she went and that was even worse.

Nathaniel would never admit it but it made him realize that he had been flattering himself before. Lizzie never chose him because he was anyone different or special or because he had an amazing capacity to put up with the crap she pulled from thin air.

No… Nathaniel had just happened to be there, that was all, it could have been anyone. For her he didn't have to be himself.

End chapter

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_**Author note:** _Discord… I had to have some sort of issue crop up and so far I've had Nathaniel being able to handle her. I had to have him snap, ya know? Anyway hope you stay tuned for the next update!

See you next time!


	5. Home rumble, open house

_**Author note:**_ Warning… I'm a little darker than usual in this chapter. Forgive me Natty! And guys... I think Natty knows I'm writing about him cause he is now stalking me on fanfiction! Every MCL ad... there he is in all his golden eyes glory with hearts around him!

_**Sparkfirebug:** _I know right? I hate pushing the characters through drama but it's like... it makes such good cannon fodder.

_**Germandelights:**_ Who can say clearly what the mysterious Nathaniel thinks and feels? I sure can't. *pout mode activated!* I'm sure she's aware of things but ignoring them... yeah. Maybe. Why must I create characters that run away with themselves?!

_**Owldistraction:**_ Iffy? Hmm... you caught that it was Ken? Heehee smart duckie! Nah I never was one to write an entire story and then post. Mostly cause I get antsy the minute I finish typing and have to post it or else it weighs on my brain like mud... Well Lizzle is what I like to think of as a pendulam character. She swings between things so she'll keep people guessing as to a possible couple ending or not.

_**Disclaimer:**_ Lizzie only.

* * *

Chapter start

The fight lasted well into the next week and it was rather pathetic since it was a one sided affair. Lizzie had taken it all in her stride, simply finding another plaything in the package of Ken, a nerdy little guy. She acted as though she couldn't see him tense when she interrupted class, couldn't see him glare when she was noisily talking with someone. She still waved at him cheerfully whenever she glanced at him.

Everything in school was the same for Nathaniel minus the hours of Lizzie branded torture. What a stupidly strange thing to miss. At this point even poor Snowflake the hamster was showing signs of mourning since she hadn't been feeding it her sweets and sugar coated death candies.

… everything was the same at home too…

The blood was flowing. And it was causing a familiar ache in his stomach as he gagged, curled on the floor despite the fact it made his back ache, the angle did, and limbs shaking as he tried to push vainly up onto his knees so that when he hurled it wasn't so near his face.

Nathaniel wanted to laugh. He really and truly did. His Father could have killed him this time. He very nearly did. If Amber hadn't have lunged when she did, hadn't have grabbed onto his sleeve Nathaniel would have fallen over the banister and crashed into the glass coffee table below.

His sister, the one everyone thought so selfish and she was really, conceited and always searching for a perfection she could never achieve was now huddled next to him with tears swimming in her eyes as she brushed nervous fingers through her hair. Where to touch him, where to try and stem the blood, what ways she could try to comfort him…

She hadn't a clue. Amber was selfish so words of comfort couldn't fall from her lips no matter how badly she wanted them to. Conceited, selfish Amber, who had done this to him, had earned him this 'lesson'.

She hadn't meant to. He was certain of that. There were times when she had been the cause of a beating but never intentionally. Somehow she had gotten it in her head that before the open house their Father needed to know about the drumming incident. Had some twisted thought if he knew now then he wouldn't be so angry after because she had tried to put it in a way that made him still seem like a good person.

Instead what Father had taken out of it was that he had wasted his time, was going to become a musician, would be addicted to drugs and no sir, never under his roof would one of his children shame him with that nonsense!

Nathaniel finally managed despite swimming vision to push to his knees, gripping tightly to his pride when he rose up on limbs that were revolted by the idea of carrying him. he slid to the left and against the wall, using it despite the throb it caused to have it pushed against his back.

"What the hell were you thinking," their Father continued to rage at him, fists clutched threateningly.

Nathaniel wasn't sorry. He wasn't sorry and in that moment he wouldn't have regretted if he had been killed. He blanked out and thought of Lizzie oddly enough. The last beating had been staved off by her. With her utter and total nonsense. What would she think of all this then?

Would she care? Or would it be something she could ignore because he hadn't ever been anything but a convenient body for her to use?

It didn't matter. There would be no Lizzie to deter his Father this time. It was the last thought he had before he was greeted by another punch and he fell to the ground again, drained and gone.

… It smelled like bleach. His nose twitched when he smelled it. It smelled like too much damned antiseptect and other things… sickness… death.

"No, no, I think you'd look cute in the uniform for Peters academy! They're uniforms are so unique."

"No… I really can't agree with you."

Those voices… Nathaniel was certain he'd regret it but he opened his eyes a slit and saw fluffy blond hair and brown.

He was tempted to slam his eyes shut again. Before he could do so Melody cried out.

"Nathaniel you're awake! How are you feeling," she asked, gently laying a hand against his forehead and he leaned into the touch instinctively. "Lizzie gave me a call," she added with a small grimace.

"Yo," Lizzie said, slightly subdued for some reason.

"How did I get here," Nathaniel asked after he gave her a level look over and turned back to Melody. From the corner of his vision he saw Lizzie smirk a little and she closed her eyes.

"I'm not sure," Melody answered in a whisper. "But you're pretty banged up… Nathaniel what happened? Please, be truthful."

His own golden eyes closed, not wanting to imagine the look on both girls faces when he gave his same old tired excuse. "Judo practice got rough."

Melody let out a relieved sigh. "Oh all right. I was worried. Uh… I'm going to go and get the doctor alright?"

He wanted to say 'no' just to not be alone with Lizzie. He was certain the moment she left the blond would start a torrent. But Melody disappeared around the corner and Lizzie didn't budge except to open her eyes and shift slightly away from the bed where he lay. He risked another peek at her. Her blue eyes were as emotional as a marble as usual but her skin seemed a little pale, hand's placidly in her lap and she didn't fidget. He had never seen her sit so quietly or have such an empty expression in her body language and face.

It was like she was a blank canvas.

Suddenly she flickered her gaze like she was aware he was staring. Suddenly she was all movement just when he was about to open his mouth and ask what was wrong with her.

She got up and grabbed her bag. "Now you're awake I can get going!"

The cheer in the voice sounded so very fake, faker than usual.

"… Lizzie how did I get here," Nathaniel demanded softly, aware she could bolt if she wanted and he couldn't do a thing to stop her.

She gave him a small amused smile. "You've been avoiding me haven't you? I upset you didn't I," she asked in that same sing-song and chipper voice that grated on his nerves for some reason.

He parted his lips with a furrowed brow, wondering what she could be leading to and against letting her avoid the questions for once. But she rolled over him. "You're such a grumpy old cat sometimes!

"I wanted to invite you to come to the open house. It isn't any fun if its just me and Ken."

Despite his best intentions he had to follow that line of conversation up. "I thought you didn't care anymore about it."

"I changed my mind," she said softly and with a grin.

There it was again. That nonchalant attitude that reminded Nathaniel too much of his insignificance. It irritated him. If he was so unimportant, if she could so easily find other play-things, why did she incessantly insist on torturing him, of showing up whenever she felt like it and when he didn't need it?

"See? This is exactly what pisses me off about you!" Nathaniel burst into a rant.

His words were as rapid as his heartbeat suddenly was, flowing out of his mouth before he had any time to check them. They simply spilled into angry sound, taking out frustration on her, some caused by her but most of it now aimed at himself and his family and his whole damned life. She just happened to be the focal point.

"You do exactly what you want when you want without a single care for anyone else!" Nathaniel yelled, "You never care about what the other person might want! I bet you don't even think about the other person as anything other than a tool for your own amusement!"

There was silence for a long time where Nathaniel could observe her face. She was straining to keep it cheerful and calm, straining not to break and finally show him the truth he was still so curious about.

He was not sure if Lizzie would cry or hit him. He was fully prepared for both… She did neither.

"I'll see you there then!" She grinned with renewed cheerfulness. Her rate of recovery was phenomenal. Laughing, she ran before Nathaniel could protest.

There she went again and once again he had no choice but to let her go, once again with no answers on his part. She had run before he could even begin an apology, to try and explain that he wasn't angry at her, well… not just her, that all those words were fueled by anger from other parts of him as well. Before he could tell her that he didn't hate her as he had made it sound…

He realized bleakly that Melody was there and that she had heard him yell. She came in the room and sat down beside him again, murmuring the doctor would be in shortly.

"… what happened between you two?" She asked softly.

"Nothing," he muttered tiredly.

"But you two were so close before." She ventured it reluctantly, not wanting to place them together in her mind because it seemed wrong, such a male like Nathaniel with such a problem like Lizzie.

Nathaniel sighed and brought his hand up to rub his temple but he paused. His hand had been covered by bandages that went up his arm to cover all the bruises as well which confused him because his hands hadn't been injured. They were rather sloppily done too as though a child had done it. Melody must have noticed his preoccupation because she cleared her throat.

"Lizzie did that. I tried to tell her to wait for the doctor but she ignored me… Shall I tighten them for you?"

He stared at them hard and tried to imagine a Lizzie who would do it. It wasn't interesting so he couldn't imagine her taking the time unless she had been struck by the urge to play 'doctor' on his unconscious form. He could see that one clearly, better than him seeing her doing it for any other reason like caring or concern.

"Nathaniel?"

"It's fine like it is," he said and dropped his hand listlessly back to the bed. "We aren't close. We were never very close at all. I was just a toy for her to mess with, keep herself entertained, until she got bored of me."

Melody took his hand gently and he allowed it. He didn't want to give her false hope but he was tired. Tired and sick of not having any gentle touch in his life.

"I asked the nurses who brought you in…" He gave her his attention. "It was Lizzie. They said that she burst in, grabbed a wheelchair and went to grab you muttering about how heavy you were."

First prize for monumental jackass went to… him.

He was released three days later. When he returned to class he wasn't terribly shocked to see Lizzie wasn't there. She showed up late and though she was smiling when she handed the teacher her note it wasn't reaching her eyes. It wasn't believable.

She was first out of the classroom ten minutes later. Nathaniel decided he was still annoyed with her and swore not to think of her.

He had a date that night… with Melody. Not really a date though he was sure she was looking at it that way. They were going to go to the open house together and stick around for the after festivities. Like the play and the fireworks.

The dreaded hour finally arrived and he didn't want to go. He wanted nothing more than to stay inside his room. And never come out.

Reluctantly though he went, listening to the principal praise him to his cleaned up parents for an hour and then sitting through the play with them. How they could shift and morph into perfect parents he didn't know but it was a talent. His mother transformed into a caring seeming woman, fluttering uselessness gone and his Fsther proud and gentle.

He was collected by Melody and he ended up reluctantly following her as she dragged him past the stalls that stood in long rows across the field.

There were too many people and they all seemed to want to get in Nathaniel's way. The sound of fake guns exploded somewhere to his right and a bell was being rung to the left. There were too many noises and too many people.

"What do you want to eat? Hotdogs? Meatballs? Roasted chestnuts?" Melody asked and she had really put herself together in a new dress.

Nathaniel wrinkled his nose at the thought of roasted nuts. It was just as bad as the crap that Lizzie would probably be eating.

"I'm not hungry," he said, realising that he'd had broken his own rules by thinking about that maniacal idiot.

The sky seemed to darken by the minute and with the dying light the air grew colder and colder yet groups of people continued to pass him as if they were unaware of the dropping temperature. Why had everyone attended this event?

Melody glanced around the brightly coloured, crowded stalls, then pointed into the heart of the crowd. "I'm going to buy some candy floss. You can wander around for a while if you want. I'll buy your share too!" she waved as she ran off.

"Melody wait!" Nathaniel shot but she had already disappeared behind a group of people.

He stood like an absolute idiot near the hotdog stand for exactly twelve minutes and thirty-six seconds. As gaggles of schoolgirls passed on their giggling way he felt a little out of place. He was too miserable and cold for this place.

He decided to leave the noise and chatter that came with the stalls in favour of the open field where the fireworks would be set off, hoping to find some peace and quiet. Yet there wasn't any luck. Beyond the lines of stalls, the open gravel of the school field was littered with couples waiting for the fireworks to be ready.

He sighed and realized he would either lose his hearing back in the stalls or he would be surrounded by couples.

Yet as Nathaniel surveyed the grounds, there was one silhouette completely alone, sitting far away from everyone else. At that time, he had thought 'now that person has the right idea' but when he looked closer he realised that he knew that figure sitting alone.

Nathaniel stood still for a moment. Then, without knowing why really he did so, he walked forwards.

"Well, this is rare," Nathaniel muttered as he approached her from behind, wanting to ask her about the hospital and maybe apologize. She didn't turn or startle even when Nathaniel was right next to her.

Neither of them made eye contact. He kept his gaze stubbornly fixed on the bonfire that they were building in the middle of the field and she stared at the darkening sky, lips tightly pursed.

Nathaniel could have been completely invisible for all the attention that Lizzie gave him.

"Fine, don't talk to me," he muttered and scrapped his apology and buried his curiosity as far as it would go.

Lizzie kept looking at the sky; her blue eyes fixed on something just beyond the clouds. "What do you mean by 'this is rare'?" she asked.

After the silence, her voice sounded unusually terse. The sound of the people working on the field was a distant noise that melted into the background. It was like hearing someone calling under water. Everything was muffled and blurred.

Nathaniel did not sit. He had no intention of sticking around someone who used people like toys but he felt inclined to at least give an answer.

"Usually you're always with someone. I don't get why you would want to be alone in a place like this when you could so easily be having fun with anyone here," he explained.

A smile curled around her lips. She even laughed a little.

"Don't you like being alone?" she asked.

"I was talking about you, not me." Nathaniel said, aware she had hit a bit of a sore spot again.

"I don't care if I'm alone or not as long as I'm having fun," she shrugged.

"You don't look like you're having much fun to me," Nathaniel commented. It was just a casual observation on his account but it seemed that both of them were starting to pick at each others wounds with the more time they interacted together.

Lizzie immediately caught his eyes in her gaze and grinned with her usual, insane exuberance. "That's not true! I was having a very fun daydream! I was a pirate and I had this magical ship and -"

"Well, if you don't mind being alone, I'm going," Nathaniel sharply interrupted her before she could take him with her on her magical journey through dreamland.

"Alrighty then, see you later!" Lizzie's voice was perfectly clear over the sound of some teachers who were yelling to a couple of students to be careful with the fireworks. "People only slow you down anyway."

Someone threw a match onto the bonfire and it exploded into flames with a roar that spread warm light across the field. Nathaniel winced as the sudden light threw their shadows across the ground.

There was a feeling that Lizzie had said something like that before but at that time he could not remember anything. Maybe it was the whole festive atmosphere that had decidedly skewered his brains cells, but he wasn't able to really think back to anything. It was as if someone had taken his past and erased it, leaving only this moment.

As the flames danced, the light shifted across their faces. One minute Nathaniel could see all of Lizzie's expression, the next, and her eyes would be completely covered in shadow. Nathaniel sincerely hoped that he was not staring at her, but if he was, in his own defense the light made it hard to see anything else.

"I thought that you were going," she said, a little too sharply for his liking.

"What's your problem?" he snapped but it seemed that she had caught on to the sharpness in her tone and immediately corrected it.

As she said, "It's a secret!" her voice returned to its normal, teasing manner.

However, Nathaniel was in no mood to be teased.

"Tell me!" he insisted.

"Don't wanna!" she poked her tongue out, purposely acting like the child that she seemed to be at times.

"Tell me!"

Lizzie shook her head but Nathaniel could see the small crack he was making. "Back off!"

Frustrated now, and pretty damn sure that he had better things to do than this, Nathaniel dropped beside her and pinned her wrist to the floor with a hand.

"Lizzie this is it. Tell me," he demanded, stronger this time, more aggressive. She leaned away but Nathaniel moved closer. This time she wouldn't run away. Even the shadows couldn't take away the startled look in her eyes.

Then, the sky began to wail, shrieking high-pitched screams that reached the clouds, and the dark evening exploded with fireworks.

end chapter

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_**Author note:**_ There we go. High time for Lizzie to come clean! Or... will she wriggle out of it like the slippery seal she is? Soon… see you all next time!


	6. wars reward, knowledge better left alone

_**Author note:** _Hum…

_**Germandelights:**_ Just cause I run around a lot dosen't mean my characters have to though. But when I try to just make a generic ordinary character I'm like... lost. Yes, Lizzie's past... I continued!

_**Owldistraction:**_ You liked her character description? Yes! It took me a second to come up with that too. Well she was off with good reason revealed in this chapter. As for where she found Nathaniel that will come out next chapter... yes I know. I'm confusing. But yes, he was in the hospital.

_**Disclaimer:**_ Nah.

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Chapter start

It was almost like being in a war by the sounds of the exploding fireworks. They practically were in a war, Nathaniel and Lizzie, a private war that they had both started. One contending for answers while the other fought to bury things under cheerful smiles and insane stupidity.

Nathaniel watched for long moments the strange pensiveness set that had come over Lizzie's face as she tried to smile, her eyes narrowed in intense concentration as she tried to wriggle away. Nathaniel shifted so he held her hand more tightly to stop her.

"Why do you want to know," she asked at length.

Nathaniel wouldn't so much as blink, half fearing if he did she would be able to retreat. "Just tell me. Why do people slow you down?"

"You're being unusually curious." Lizzie showed off her stubborn streak.

Her face was bathed in the blue light from the fireworks, eyes oddly sparkling. Nathaniel was almost entranced by the way the lights were reflecting in her orbs until he remembered it was his que to retort.

"And you're being purposely evasive. Why can't you just tell me Lizzie?"

She had been wriggling again and scooting to put distance between them. He saw the annoyance she couldn't check flash as she finally snapped at him, "Tell yourself!"

"That doesn't make sense!"

"You met my Aunt didn't you," she switched topics like a flash of lightening. Nathaniel could only nod now as he wondered what her next escape route would be.

"I live with her now, for a long time. About… twelve years?" Her eyes were far away as she dug through her memories. "Eleven…"

As more fireworks ascended, they exploded with a bang that resounded across the world. Were they the sirens of help that Lizzie could not bring herself to ask for? They were signal flares, lights of hope spontaneously sparking in this perpetual night.

"I live with her now because my mother is overseas working," she spoke slowly, as if each and every syllable had to been wrenched from her reluctant lips. "Back when I was little, my family hardly had any money so my dad used to work two jobs in order to make ends meet. He never went for drinks with friends because he was always working and he hardly spent any time at home."

Nathaniel stayed silent; ignoring the dancing figures around the bonfire that Lizzie watched with intense focus in favor of keeping his gaze fixed on her. She started speaking quickly again, smoother as she regained a balance.

"We had a really mean grandma but when she got sick he traveled for miles just to be with her. He was the kind of guy who couldn't say 'no' so his colleagues at work were always asking him for help. He worked a lot and never bought unnecessary things even if he really wanted them, always helped other people even if he had things he would rather be doing, never splurged or pampered himself because his family always came first."

"Sounds like a great person," Nathaniel murmured.

"It was a lie." Her voice was a whisper but it was also harsher than Nathaniel had ever heard.

Nathaniel looked at her cautiously. But the damned shadows were making it impossible to see her clearly, the brief flashes over her features not enough to discern her feelings. The voice was different, not playful as it usually was. It was a strong and sure voice. Even then Nathaniel had the distinct feeling it could shatter at the slightest puff of wind.

"He worked so hard and did so many things that he didn't want to do, that he hated doing, just to take it out on his wife. And she always covered for him, saying it was because he was sad. She had to hide bruises and broken bones but it was okay because her husband was miserable. She even cried when he died. I didn't.

"In the end, most of the money he had saved went towards his funeral but the only people that showed up apart from my mother and me were a few colleagues from work who could spare the time. His life was nothing but a boring routine of obligations and duties and abusing the people he should have been loving. He never really got to enjoy life according to mom." Lizzie paused. She breathed the smoky air deeply, her words at an end.

A single firework tore its way through the sky, disappearing in a blaze. The last of its light illuminated her face and Nathaniel caught a glimpse of sadness in that single moment before the darkness settled in.

"It's funny, isn't it?" the darkness moved. "It's a really funny story."

"I don't think that there's anything funny about it at all," Nathaniel murmured softly.

"I'm not going to do anything that I don't want to. Maybe I'll make a few friends but I'll be sure not to form any attachments that'll make me think 'it's okay to be hurt because so-and-so is sad. When you get to know people, you become obligated to do and accept things for them and to be considerate to them even if you don't want to or can't be bothered to, even if it's wrong. I decided I'm going to live as much as possible and every day is going to be full of fun!"

"Every day is going to be full of fun?" Nathaniel repeated slowly and she nodded. "You don't look like you're having fun right now,"

There was such a silence that one could have drowned in it. Who knew that such silence could exist?

"That story about my mom and dad makes me laugh so hard!" Lizzie's voice eventually rang out loud, returning to its former cheer but Nathaniel was no longer convinced, knowing she was burying herself again and soon he wouldn't be able to see under that carefully crafted poker face.

"If you go about forcing yourself to have fun, you can't really be happy. No one can expect to be happy all of the time," Nathaniel tried to break through again without knowing why he cared to try. "You're just afraid of that pain and being sad aren't you?"

"What would you know about that?"

Warning bells were going off in his head. Warning that he should give such a confidence to such a ditz. But she wasn't really so ditzy was she? The real Lizzie had been twisted into a web spanning a continent, strands of the real her only flickering occasionally when he was lucky enough to be caught by one.

And it wasn't like she didn't already know too. That he was being abused. It all clicked why she had looked so odd that day in the hospital. Seeing him like that must have brought all her childhood up in a flash.

"I'm the same," he told her softly. "Rather than admit that things hurt or that things are sad I'd rather ignore them. I accept them so I can avoid them. So I can hide them. Did your dad ever hurt you physically?"

"No… just mom."

"It's okay that you're sad he died. You don't have to hide that just because he was also not a good person. It's okay to not be happy all the time."

Lizzie shifted and he felt petal soft lips against his cheek, smelled vanilla and smoke from the bonfire mixing. "Sorry Natty-catty! That may be how you live but I'm not like that. I do what I want when I want and how I want without consequence that means anything!" She said blithely. "Right now I feel like I could fly or walk on a rainbow. But right now I feel more like going home."

She rose up and was gone before Nathaniel could utter a protest. He doubted he would if he could. All he seemed capable of doing was watching her silhouette as it vanished from his seeking sight. He watched as she ran from him just as she ran from all the pain and sadness in her life.

"There you are! I bought you a hotdog."

Melody startled him. He had honestly forgotten that he was with anyone. He looked up at the smiling girl and found himself wondering if she hid things under her gentle smile and calm manner.

"She got away again," he muttered it absently as he rose and accepted the food from her.

"Who did?" Melody tilted her head and he was struck with the fact she was pretty.

"Just… something that might be important. Thanks for the food."

It was fun. Or it would have been if he wasn't being eaten alive inside. Whenever he wasn't being engaged by Melody or something his thoughts wandered to the fluffy blond, wondering if she got home safely, had she even bothered to go home?

Lizzie was the kind to wander a night away if she felt inclined. And she might just to try and convince herself she was happy.

Worry clogged him as he thought about the unsavory things that lurked at night. But Nathaniel wouldn't go after her. He wouldn't even know where she was if he tried.

He didn't even know how to reach her when he couldn't reach himself.

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End chapter

_**Author note:**_ Short I know. I wanted to get this part out at least and the next chappie needs to be a stand off from this. See you all next time!


	7. Breaking fights

_**Author note:**_ this was supposed to come out bright and early this Christmas… drat fanfiction and their odd server crashes and errors that blocked me from my account!

_**Germandelights:**_ Lizzie is hard for even me to understand. Probably not the most healthy thing for an author to admit. She gives me a headache... now I feel like Natty. Hey though! Lucia didn't run around. She ran _away_ for most of the story! Haa. Anywho hope you enjoy this.

_**Beutyofsunrise:**_ Oh no, it makes me feel very happy that you reviewed every chapter. And also the review you left on Awakening made me happy. I'm glad to know you enjoyed it so much. And this story too of course. I don't know why but I seem to write darker toned scenes better than light and fluffy. Or I can do serious. Well so far as we know Lizzie was never physically abused. She just watched her mother being abused with the knowledge she couldn't stop it. Probably she hid off in a corner when her dad started, eventually I'll get into all that, take a closer look at both the situations. Hope you stick around for it! And that you enjoy this chappie as well. And also, nice name change.

_**Disclaimer:**_ Nope…

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Chapter start

Nathaniel had went to sleep that night with the smell of smoke and that peculiar odor bonfires and fireworks emitted on his skin, too tired to sleuth it off with a shower. All he smelled was a perfume of vanilla.

Despite getting the full eight hours he was still rather tired when he finally opened his eyes. It wasn't a true tiredness. It was a mental dilemma that made him drag down in lethargy and bogged his body with weight.

Lizzie was not to be seen in class for the rest of the week. He couldn't help feeling a little relived at that. He was at a total loss on what to do with her, what he could say after the things he had done last night. She had finally broken a small piece of the wall guarding her and given him something to satisfy his curiosity, had blatantly admitted why she was so off kilter and strange and he didn't know what to think anymore.

Surely there was more…?

It might have been as simple as him confusing her problems for his own, making them interchangeable in his brain. Why hadn't he ever seen it before? He contemplated that every morning, how he could have missed it when he had wanted to know. Lizzie got along with most people and was so amiable but underneath it all she wasn't close to anyone in particular, kept herself at a marked distance, choosing to follow her craziest whims.

Nathaniel recalled how she had laughed at the idea of falling from the roof. A chill slipped down his spine, icy slivers running through him.

"Um… N- natty-catty!"

The ice changed to one of shock. Nathaniel's brow furrowed and his pen slipped from his rather inattentive fingers as he glanced up. He instinctively tensed when he realized who stood before his desk. That nerdy guy named Kentin, the one who had replaced him as Lizzie's 'pet'.

His stare was level, golden eyes narrowed in concentration as he studied the smaller male in front of him. A blush ran through his oddly chubby cheeks and under his glasses, vanishing into his brown mop of hair. Nathaniel wondered how his cheeks were so fat despite the excessive thinness everything else suggested, wondering if he was the kind of guy the manga obsessed fan girls would call chibi.

"That's what Lizzie always called you," Kentin muttered lowly when Nathaniel remained silent for long seconds.

"Lizzie," Nathaniel murmured softly in an almost absent fashion. Ken blinked at him and nodded. "Is she slacking off or something?"

Nathaniel tried to instill as much indifference into his tone as he could muster but it was wasted on Ken who was shaking his head in protest. "Then is she sick?" worry jumped but he beat it back violently.

"No, she isn't. Lizzie asked me to check on you. And to ask that you, uhm… oh yeah! She wanted you to feed one of these to hamstring a day." A bag of gummi bears was presented and Nathaniel stared at it incredulously before he remembered the insane name Lizzie had given the class hamster.

Reluctantly he took the bag while silently thinking he wouldn't be the one to kill the rodent pet with such swill.

"So if she isn't sick she must be slacking off… especially if she thinks of something like this."

"Lizzie is not slacking off!" Kentin snapped in a stronger voice as he defended her and Nathaniel wondered at the fierce loyalty the small male was showing her despite how she must have been toying him into her webs.

"Oh really? Then just what has Lizzie been doing that would require a week off of school," Nathaniel crossed his arms and tried to look bored. The expression slipped into disbelief when Ken spilled the beans, and then anger when he remembered it was the peanut brain after all so this would be right up her alley.

"And that's where she'll be?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Uh-huh. She says its fun there. She likes how fast it all goes."

There were a million things that could have been said but he didn't waste his breath, choosing instead to move away for his next bell. Not that he could concentrate. Not now.

It was one thing for her to throw clocks off a roof, to steal muffins, to break and enter into his private bedroom or any other place that was off limits to her. This was just beyond stupid and beyond dangerous.

So Nathaniel found himself feeling highly out of place later and definitely threatened when he walked to a rather shady area of town.

It didn't take him long to spot her. But it did take him a second glance to recognize her. She had cut her hair into a short style. It was still fluffy and tendrils fell along her cheeks but it no longer reached her shoulder blades. It looked good as the strands were allowed to settle in casual disarray.

"Lizzie."

She glanced at him, turning from the group she was with. A group of hardened and down trodden looking people ranging from her age of sixteen to twenty. Nathaniel flicked his gaze to the lit cigarette in her hand and grimaced, wondering how low she could go in her quest to avoid any serious piece of life.

With a small smile she waved off her gathering and came over to him. she was in a pair of impossibly small white shorts paired with a pair of black boots that ran all the way up her thigh to leave only a pale strip of flesh between the hem of her pants and them, a red bikini top covered by a see through mesh that didn't even cover her stomach and a white jacket.

With that look she fit right into the neighborhood and could have been anyone of the streets filth that lingered in this part of the town. She could have been one of the coked out, drugged up, lowlifes.

But he knew better.

"Oh it's you," she muttered, smiling lazily when he grabbed her wrist and made her drop the burning cancer stick.

"What on earth have you been doing," he hissed and his anger made her smirk more and that in turn made him more livid.

"Why do you care," she countered.

Nathaniel took a deep breath, willing himself not to snap at her again. "This place isn't safe for…" _You_… "A young girl."

Lizzie smiled brightly and answered him blithely. "I like it here! Everyone is so nice and they don't ask me personal questions. It all moves so fast here."

"I told you running away isn't going to solve anything." He muttered. "Listen I thought a lot about what you said and I think that-"

"You need to leave me alone Nathaniel."

Nathaniel heard her words before the meaning fully hit him. The sudden force was like a rush of hard wind that barreled into him. They cut through his skin, leaving him in such a stunned silence that he couldn't even utter a statement of disbelief.

Lizzie turned to look at him directly. With the sun to her back, her hair whipping wildly in the wind she seemed almost to glow. A hand pushed back golden strands of hair and she smiled coldly. Nathaniel couldn't remember ever seeing a more discerning moment than when she looked at him with such distant eyes and smiled as if someone else was merely pulling back the edges of her lips.

"You slow me down," she spoke quietly but there was such silence enveloping the two that the words were loud and clear. "It's troublesome to form attachments. I never realized how much time I was spending with you. I never noticed that I had crossed the line."

That painted expression, the plastic smile infuriated Nathaniel. Why was she acting so fake? Why was she suddenly giving him the cold shoulder? Her smile, her face, her figure, her voice, everything about her irritated Nathaniel to no end.

Nathaniel couldn't understand it and couldn't control it. No one should have been able to make him feel this angry but there he was, with cold fury raging through his body.

"So what? You got closer to me than you think is safe so now you're going to tuck your tail and run away again," he demanded lowly. "That's all you do. Running away from sorrow and sadness, from life, it's pathetic!"

Lizzie widened her eyes in sudden anger she couldn't hide.

"Oh yeah? And what about you?" She retorted and jerked her hand away from him. "You're afraid of social interaction to the point you might as well be a hermit! You only speak to people if there's a reason to, never because you're curious or lonely. Always because you have to. If it was up to you, you'd hide in that room of yours, in that little house where you and yours pretend to be a family, trying to avoid getting killed by your dad!"

"Shut up," Nathaniel muttered it, aware she was shouting and others could hear her. This wasn't how he intended this to go, he merely came to drag her away from this area, from a life where she might run happily into drugs and poverty he wouldn't wish on Castiel. She ignored him.

"You could say something! But instead you lie to Melody, to everyone about those bruises about the hospital. Would you have even gone if I hadn't of came over that day? Oh your dad was so surprised to see me. So was your mommy dearest and that thing you call a sister. They weren't even concerned about you, just about what I would say to others! They were going to leave you there-"

Nathaniel grabbed her tightly, brutally around the arms, clamping her there painfully. But not nearly as harshly as the way he forced his lips over hers, jerking her forward and mating their lips in a savage punishment.

Her hands came up and tried to shove him away, settling on his shoulders and digging into the cloth of his shirt with nails that were like talons.

Nathaniel couldn't explain or understand how his fury had translated into this way. There had never been a thought in his head, no desire, to ever kiss Lizzie, or force Lizzie into an intimate thing like it. It seemed like the best way to shut her up and he was so furious at the moment, furious she would spill such things so casually and noisily on the streets he had reacted without thought, suffering from a total loss of control.

Her hand had come up now to sink into his hair. The kiss altered into something less anger filled but now he recognized the more dangerous thing swelling. Passion.

He was tempted, now that he could feel and register the soft texture of her skin, could recognize the vanilla lotion she used liberally and take note of how her lips were like petals as they parted under his own, he was tempted to see how far he could take this. This was a new aspect to him of himself and also of her in his eyes.

Then her knee connected with his gut and he bent over, she retreated. Her features were flushed and there was a glimmer of want in her marble blue eyes but she also held anger, her stance rigid and unbending.

"They were going to leave you in a puddle of your own blood on the steps," she went on now in a whisper but that was somehow all the worse. "Your mom had a bucket of bleach water like she was just going to clean around you. What were they expecting you to do Nathaniel, wake up and crawl to your room where you'd eventually hopefully heal?"

He kept silent now, not knowing what to say because yes, that would have been all their thoughts because that was what he had always done.

"They didn't even want to let me take you out. Your dad was pissed saying he was going to call the cops because I climbed in from your window but I laughed at him and said then he'd be found out for the abusive fuck he really was. I told them if they didn't let me get you into a cab I'd call the police myself and I'd make you be honest. I'd make you tell everyone what a piece of shit your dad was."

Her eyes returned to blank slates. "You can't even live your own life so don't tell me how to live mine. So you need to stay away from me and stop slowing me down."

Nathaniel didn't say anything else. His jaw clenched he turned around and stormed off, anger in every movement he made. At least now he knew what had happened that day, how he had ended up in the hospital. Yet now he had an even more annoying thing weighing him down.

Buried deep inside him he knew that eventually they'd have to talk this out, sort it. He prayed when that day came they could do so a little easier. If he didn't stop making so many mistakes then he's lose his genius ranking.

End chapter

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_**Author note:** _Hmm well… yeah. I'm drawing a blank here for a note... Oooh here's a random fact. I have never, ever, ever in my history of beinf a writer stuck to one persons POV as I'm doing with Nathaniel here. It's harder than I thought, not shifting between characters like sand! So I close, see you all next time!


	8. A normal day with Lizzie

_**Author note:**_ I keep losing things to say in these things. Man I feel jaded with author notes!

_**Sparkfirebug:**_ I know. Things will... well I can't say get better just yet but hey... a kiss is a kiss right?

_**Beautyofsunlight:**_ Dark undercurrent of obscurity? I'm happy I can take that as a great compliment! Well look under the layers of this one and tell me what ya see. As for POV's I generally never do first. But that's not with hating to read them or anything. I don't like writing in first because I feel wierd writing I/me/we rathen than she/he/they. It limits me I guess...

_**Germandelight:**_ Aw Lucia wouldn't hurt her creator. One night stand? You must really have liked your lemon if you want me to do another one so soon! Haha, not the wrecking ball. Lizzie would probably hop on it and try singing that Miley Cyrus song! As for being hurt like her mama... Lizzie is just... gah.

_**Rose14799:**_ Snazzy Nazzie? That sounds... well it flows in any case! Yes I remember you came up with the Trucia ship. Had it been that long since an update though? Aw, now I feel guilty! And I updated lies. I just go slower on that one since it has a different format.

**_Owldistraction:_** I forgive you cause your profile image is Edward Elric. No, I'm kiddind I think we can all agree this author(me) is the queen of getting wrapped up in life for spells. I'm glad you had time to review chappie 7! Hmm so basically Lizzie, being the kinda girl she is had climbed through Nathaniel's window. Why, I'm not sure I didn't think about it. Probably to annoy him or take pictures for Rosalya to sell. Anyway she heard the commotion and left his room to see Nathaniel bloody and messed up by the stairs and had a yelling maych with his dad before dragging him to a hospital. Better? Hurm the rift... I do seem to enjoy twisting my characters no matter the story.

_**Disclaimer:**_ Don't I wish? Actually no. Chino is amazing!

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Chapter start

When Lizzie came back she came back with a bang. Of course a bang for her was the sudden and startling submission she showed. The pranks stopped, the sleeping in class ceased, the denial of classmates wanting to get closer to her warily accepted with a tired voice. It confused teachers. It made students happy; they felt calls for closeness finally were being accepted. It alarmed Nathaniel.

With a subdued Lizzie hanging around the school his life returned to the grey and rather peaceful state it had been following. It was also boring as all hell. Minus the anxiety he felt when he returned home thanks to her his Father wasn't so eager to slug him. Nathaniel still walked on pins and needles. He thought this previous week had been the longest he hadn't been at the very least smacked by his oh so loving Father.

He catalogued it all, out of boredom, or because it was all he could think to do, he couldn't have told you. Had anyone asked he could have only stared, unable to even answer the basic question of who the hell Lizzie was or who he was. And wasn't that just pathetic?

Melody was happy and relieved to be able to claim him. Ken was confused by Lizzie's sudden distance, her indifference infecting even her pet relationship. The teachers were perhaps more frustrated because, while she came to class and didn't sleep, her eyes were blank and obviously not retaining anything. They were brought to being simply glad she wasn't being a distraction. And he was… confused and lost, like a child. He felt one.

Her words circled him. They wouldn't give him even a moment's peace. He couldn't help but feel and think that though their ways of life were totally dissimilar they were alike. They were kind of alike. It was a simple thought, an easy one, one he couldn't halt. Then it would turn unfavorable and Nathaniel was left again with no knowledge on what to do or say.

Nathaniel did know with almost unwavering certainty that they had to speak and sort it out. The obsession wasn't something that could be rationalized or explained, especially since it had been born on a girl with such a twisted and non thinking brain. Maybe the idiocy Lizzie sported was contagious… Nathaniel didn't even know how he really felt about the girl. He just… didn't want her to run away for some reason.

So it came to pass he walked up to her desk where she was half reclining and he rapped on the wood sharply to startle her from her reverie. Lizzie regarded him with perhaps a little curiosity and more wariness. He managed to swallow his exclamation when she glanced to the clock, made some lame excuse and dipped from her seat.

Melody had been watching and now she came to him hesitantly. He glanced at her when she placed a gentle hand on his arm and there was only soft ease in her eyes and he wondered with some cynical self criticism why an easy girl like her couldn't be the one he focused on.

"Something happened between you two didn't it," she murmured. "You used to be so close."

Nathaniel heard the reluctance in her voice, felt the small tremble in her fingers. It was unusual he knew for him to take an interest in someone. The closest thing to an interest in people came from Castiel and that was more him wondering how bad a cell would really be when he finally snapped and killed the delinquent. Other than that he had always stuck to Melody.

It was an easy thing for him to cover her hand and press reassuringly. She gave him comfort whenever he needed it. Nathaniel might not have been too sure what he felt for Lizzie but he knew he felt strongly for Melody. The only thing he felt their relationship would miss was passion, longing. It would be comfortable.

Never would Melody randomly drag him around for no reason at all. Nor would she ever even conceive of kneeing him in his gut, even if he deserved it…

"No," he finally said with a sigh. "We were never really close at all."

Indeed they had never been close. Lizzie had just been pretending. But he was too caught up in the web she weaved now to let her cut him from it.

That day seemed to be cursed by the Gods. The school wasn't particularly big but as Nathaniel continued to look for Lizzie so that he could rest the niggling in his skull he seemed to run into everyone but the goal.

"Hey, Iris have you seen Lizzie?" He called as he prowled the corridors in search of the ever disappearing target.

Normally Nathaniel would never talk to someone he didn't absolutely know but there wasn't much to lose and Iris was one of the better options. Girls tended to have an impressive information network when it came to others of their sex.

However, she was shockingly one of the less well-informed girls of the school. Where was Peggy when he needed her nosiness?

"No, not recently. Try the roof," she shook her head and added, bemused, "are you stalking her again?"

Despite her sudden interest in affairs, Nathaniel shot down her assumptions with a classic 'I've had enough of this crap' look and briefly wondered if Castiel had been purposefully spreading that rumor around. Yet there was no time to dwell on it. There was a stupid, yet highly elusive, blond creature to catch.

Fortunately, Nathaniel knew its local habitat by heart.

As he stepped onto the roof he was rewarded but not with his prize. With his hand still gripped around the handle he breathed an exhausted sigh. Why was he running into everyone _but_ Lizzie?

"Where's Lizzie?" Nathaniel stepped out onto the roof, joining the nerdy underclassman by the railings overlooking the school grounds.

Ken looked up at him and asked sweetly, "she isn't in her class?"

Clueless people were the only ones that Nathaniel seemed to know.

"She _was_," Nathaniel sighed, utterly fed up by the flawless escape. "You've been hanging around her a lot, haven't you? How is she? I mean, how does she treat you? What's she like around you?"

No, he wasn't concerned for her… nor was he any bit jealous of this particular younger man. Never.

"Lizzie is very sweet!" he nodded. "Although sometimes she does things that are a little strange."

"That second part sounds about right," Nathaniel muttered.

"But Natty-catty would know Lizzie better than I do."

"Are you crazy?"

The force of the accusation was so startling Nathaniel almost laughed in spite of himself. However, in his sober state, his golden gaze turned away from him.

"I can't help her," Nathaniel muttered in frustration as they watched the birds wheel and call above them. "It would be like the blind leading the blind. I think that it would be better if that idiot had someone like you around instead."

If that idiot had someone like Ken…

Well, he was sweet if not particularly good looking and he wasn't very outgoing but he seemed to be happy and content. Someone optimistic and bright could surely bring the best out of Lizzie. He, however, was cynical, pessimistic and a lost case buried under lies.

Then the thing that had been bothering him all day finally hit him with its full force. How could Nathaniel say anything to her when he was as bad as she was? Could he really do anything? Why should he bother doing anything anyway?

As Nathaniel began to struggle against the thoughts, the door to the roof opened and Lizzie finally made her grand entrance.

"Oh hello there Natty!"

"Don't you Natty me! We need to talk," Nathaniel snapped and jabbed his finger at her.

Lizzie's smile was serene and unperturbed as she regarded him. It was calm and easy even as she said her greetings to Ken and ruffled some of his hair. She stepped forward and leaned between them and turned to lean against the rails, tilting her head to look at the sky.

Something about her seemed more buoyant and confident than before, as if a huge weight had suddenly been lifted. She was visibly relieved, although Nathaniel had no idea why.

Nathaniel cleared his throat uncomfortably. Now that she was here, willingly listening, he had no idea what he wanted to say.

"You and I…we're quite alike," Nathaniel started off slowly. "Of course, you think less, are a lot less reliable, have the mental age of a child. At the core though, I guess that we're a little the same."

Lizzie smiled a little and said nothing. Neither did Ken. Nathaniel glanced at her, wondering if she really wanted Ken to hear this but since she didn't seem to be mind and he wasn't moving he recklessly continued.

"You said that you didn't want to form attachments so you didn't have to do anything for anyone. You said that you would live every day to its fullest and do whatever you wanted but that's not living at all! What's wrong with doing things for others? What's wrong with attachments? You're not living; you're running away from life!"

It was odd and off for him to be so passionate. Ken was regarding him with some wonder but Lizzie was still smiling and intently staring at the sky. It was almost as if it was all she saw but her head was tilted slightly his way, letting him know she listened at the very least half way.

He was getting too passionate. But now that he had started he couldn't seem to stop. A life time of suppressing words was erupting and he couldn't stop, wanting to yank this one girl into the right way, to try and force her to accept his words as fact.

Nathaniel was so desperate to get through to her that he seemed to have lost all sense.

"Life… doesn't have to be elaborate. It doesn't have to be so loud all the time," he continued softly, his wavering thoughts bursting while his mouth moved of its own volition. Was he trying to convince himself to overcome his own problems as well? "All that matters is that… that you're really happy with who you're with and what you're doing."

Lizzie's expression was unreadable. It was a smile Nathaniel couldn't read and that was troublesome. He couldn't tell how real it was.

"Hey," she said in a calm and confident voice. "Do you want to hand out after school?"

Nathaniel glanced at Ken but the kid smiled like he didn't mind and left the roof. He returned his golden eyes to Lizzie with some incredulous hesitation. Seeing nothing since she wasn't looking at him, staring instead at the sky like it was the last time she'd see it. Nathaniel cleared his throat and dragged his calm, kind poise around him like armor.

"Of course."

How proud he was there was no stutter.

This time was different then the last time they had hung out. It was… normal…

Nathaniel admitted that sometimes he would get the weird feeling that it might have looked like a date, but otherwise it seemed to anyone watching that they were just two high school students hanging out. No one would have suspected that Nathaniel was socially shy and she had the mentality of a sugar-high wing-nut.

"I thought about what you said," Lizzie spoke as they traversed the shopping district.

"And?"

"It's okay if life isn't exciting or full of action as long as you're content," she echoed, staring at him with such serious eyes they cut through Nathaniel. "Do you really believe that…or is that just how you think life should be?"

Nathaniel was a little taken aback by the question but recovered quickly enough.

"Of course I believe it," he declared.

She burst out laughing. "You're so passionate, Natty-catty!"

Realizing that she was just making fun of him like she always did annoyed him further but, deep down, there might have been a little relief. With mock indignation he glared at her and made a move and when she took off running he chased willingly.

Time flew faster than it had ever done before. Just when the sun was at its peak, Nathaniel looked again and it had already sunk beneath the sky. The last light was gently extinguishing itself and the shadows were growing around their ankles.

They walked without knowing where they were going and the mindless wanderings eventually led to an old park. The swings were all empty now. The round-about was lopsided and gathering rust, large plastic dinosaurs stood with fading pink painted coats and a single bench overlooking it all seemed lonely and cold by itself.

"I actually had a good time." Nathaniel tried to cover his yawn as he sat on the bench next to Lizzie.

"Yeah," she nodded, her voice sounding oddly distant. However, that could have been laid all down to her feeling tired so Nathaniel thought no more about it.

"We should…if you want, we should hang out again sometime," Nathaniel continued, pushing the hair out of his eyes.

"Yeah."

"We can go somewhere else if you like."

"Yeah."

"It's my treat next time, okay?"

"Yeah," she whispered, her voice barely audible in the thickness of the evening.

Nathaniel frowned. She was being too subdued and complacent. Even when he shifted his gaze to focus on her face she failed to notice the attention and kept her head slightly bowed.

Crickets starting to chirp, penetrating the blanket of darkness and silence. A slight breeze stirred the trees around and quickly passed, not wanting to linger amongst the silent teens.

"Hey, what's wrong," Nathaniel asked it gently, tempted to brush some hair away from her face.

Finally she lifted her head. A smile was plastered onto her lips as though it had been very carefully fixed. She stood and walked three paces away before spinning to regard him, still smiling that benign smile.

"I was just thinking about how late it is! It's late. Almost too late," she turned to look at the sky. "I need to go before I miss my bus."

Nathaniel startled somewhat. He wanted to say that if he had known that she had other attachments, then he wouldn't have held her up but he reconsidered that comment. Since when did Lizzie form any attachments? She practically said that she avoided those things like the plague.

Realizing that she was waiting for a comment Nathaniel cleared his throat and lamely muttered, "Are you going somewhere?"

Lizzie's smile widened but it lacked any cheer. Her smile grew yet failed to reach her eyes. It was strange, in the darkness, amongst the shadows that flickered across her face, how haunting a smile could really be. It was enough to chill Nathaniel.

"I don't like Bus's very much. You stand there alone on a crowded platform amongst all those strangers," she said ruefully. "I always think that someone will suddenly appear. Wouldn't it be kinda nice if someone showed up unexpectedly when you're feeling lonely?"

Thinking that this was some sort of hint, Nathaniel asked "Do you want me to come with you?" but she shook his head. Nathaniel should have known that if Lizzie wanted him along she would have hauled him to the station without any compunction.

"No you need to be getting home yourself, Natty."

Her sudden consideration was kind of creeping him out in a way. There was a very bad feeling that as soon as he released his guard she would revert back to 'dictator Lizzie'.

"Alright then… if you're sure," Nathaniel murmured it and stood up too, a little wearily in case she tried something. Time with her had taught him to expect any and everything.

Lizzie smiled and nodded before turning to walk away to wherever the hell she wandered to. He wouldn't admit it but for a moment he flashed back to the opening house, when he had watched her run away before, silhouetted by the sunset then too. He dismissed the thought at trivial.

He had just turned around and began to walk when he heard steps again. He blinked and glanced over without much curiosity to see her rushing back to him. Thinking she had forgotten something he paused.

Lizzie crashed into him, something he hadn't been expecting. Nathaniel had thought she would stop. He barely caught his balance and would have failed even that if not for his legs hitting the side of the bench rather sharply. Her arms were around his neck suddenly and she pressed as close as she could, suddenly holding him as though for dear life.

Nathaniel was stunned. His own arm had wrapped around her when she initially crashed but now he wrapped her in the embrace, inhaling her scent and he couldn't help it his eyes half closed. Lizzie nuzzled against his chest with a sigh; the top of her fluffy hair was tickling his chin. After a moment he let his head dip forward and he nestled in her yellow hair. minutes past and he didn't move, letting her remain as close as she wanted even if her shifting closer caused stirs to erupt in regions better not stirred to life in present circumstances.

Lizzie shifted her hold to his shoulders and clung, fisting the material of his jacket as though reluctant to let him go out of belief he'd vanish. He wasn't adverse to further contact anyway. With her in his arms so close he had no thoughts and for him that was a novelty. All the worries quieted and he felt calmer.

"All right… that's good," she muttered and pushed away with a small cough. Her eyes were blank as she smiled at him, letting him go and waiting for his arms to drop from her.

"This time for real Nathaniel. Goodbye," she stuck her hand out with a smile of calm serenity.

It was awkward, he thought. Still he indulged her and shook her hand firmly. "See you tomorrow."

Lizzie smiled and nodded before spinning to beat it hastily to her bus station. Nathaniel confronted the new development in his head as he too made his way home. There was something there but he didn't see it. He should have been suspicious, there was something amiss. Lizzie hadn't said see you tomorrow in return. She had said goodbye.

It was dismissed however when he was on his porch. He was digging for his keys when he heard a crash from inside, heard his sister shriek and his mother hastily trying to calm her husband. It seemed the calm at his home created by Lizzie's interference was shattered at last.

End chapter

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_**Author note:**_ Bet you all thought you were getting another kiss didn't ya? Ha, fooled you! Anyway… composure regained. Now then I'm curious if anyone picked anything worthwhile from this chapter? I tried to have Lizzie evolve a little so she started off by being off kilter. But then she recovered. What could she have done to recover so fast while Nathaniel looked for her? I just kinda want to know opinions… and on why she was so 'considerate' as our golden haired hero thought.


	9. Lost

_**Author note:**_ Hope you all like. The italics are things people said in the past that Nathaniel's remembers by the way/

_**Owldistraction:**_ Hmm I don't know about vocab. I just kinda let it flow. Some people don't like when higher leveled words are used in documents but I always leaned that way because it seems more lyrical in a way to me. It flows easier for me when I don't sit there and think about a simple wors to replace the difficult one and my high school english teacher encouraged me to build my vocabulary so now I end up talking like a formal english woman! But it has gotten me places, I'll say that. It was originally going to be a kiss but it turned to a hug last second. I thought it would be more fluffy.

_**Germandelights:**_ Like the bear in the fabric softener commercial? I like snuggies too, they're so fluffy and I think sometimes more personal than a kiss. Especially when it's between an abused person and someone like Lizzie. Ah Lucia... she was a good character. I need to write one like her again soon.

_**Sparkfirebug:**_ You'll have to read to find out. I hope you enjoy this!

_**Disclaimer:**_ I'm a little saddened to say I only own my Lizzie. *que some waterworks please*

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Chapter start

It hadn't been anything bad and Nathaniel had managed to slip up the stairs before his father saw him. Amber had shattered a rather expensive vase their parents had been given for their last anniversary and had liberally applied the waterworks to insure she wouldn't be blamed. Nathaniel had felt a twinge of disgust. Oddly no envy like he usually felt.

He had done his homework, accepted a phone call from Melody, and eaten his dinner even though he had eaten with Lizzie. He and his father had even had a pleasant conversation about mathematics.

His father was a brilliant man, Nathaniel could admit that. In the small family he was closest to Nathaniel in intellect. When he was in a passive mood his father was an amazing thing to learn from, to have debates with. The moments were becoming far and few between though. Nathaniel had closed his eyes as he felt a small and unnatural wriggle in his brain, discontent he realized. He had once been satisfied by the few times he wasn't being abused… what had changed?

Lizzie wasn't in school. Big surprise and it made him actually chuckle a bit. She was a horrible delinquent and he was startled to find it amused him now despite the paperwork that gave him a headache.

It was third bell, his free period that he sat in the classroom trying to teach his sister some history. She was horrible at history. In his more cruel moments he had thought she was too dumb because her brain was full of shoes, designer bags, painted nails, and one redhead who induced migraines by entering the room.

Still Amber had her strong points as well. She was good at science and she enjoyed mathematical theories, not that she would ever let that spill out into general knowledge. Better to be the cruel popular girl that reigned than a smart goody two shoes like she referred to Melody as. The two didn't get along as far as he could throw them.

If Amber could be made to concentrate she was actually a talented student however. Too bad she was going on about a new student after her darling delinquent.

As if his ears didn't get besieged by teacher complaints about Castiel enough.

"She's starting to really annoy me," Amber hissed angrily.

"So when we go back you can see that the flag changed when-"Nathaniel went on in a steady voice as he tried to focus himself. She cut him off cleanly.

"Are you even listening?"

"I'm listening to my younger sister's future going down the drain if she can't even remember dates," he retorted.

"Nathaniel!" She whined pitifully and he arched a brow. Contrary to outward appearance the two siblings loved each other as was right and were aware of the others true selves, accepting the faults and being blunt about them when necessary.

"You're overreacting," he told her blandly, thinking that Amber always was prone to drama, exaggerating every situation no matter how big or small.

"How cruel! What kind of a brother are you! You don't even know the girl and you're sticking up for her over me!"

"And now you're exaggerating. Do you even know this poor girl's name that you think is 'stealing' Castiel?" he asked it while thinking that Castiel had never been hers anyway so he wasn't stolen regardless.

"Of course I do," Amber sniffed with delicate offense. "It's… uh, it's…Michael…"

"Michael?" Nathaniel coughed swiftly to cover his snort.

Amber gave him a look to say she wasn't fooled.

"Her name is Michelle." A voice said from behind them.

Nathaniel saw the instant dislike in his sister's eyes but he felt hopeful. Until he registered it was Melody with… Ken beside her. What an odd combination. He shook the fact he had wanted it to be Lizzie from his brain as he regarded them both.

"Is there a problem," Nathaniel asked and rose from his chair as he slipped into the role of president, calm and kind.

Melody shot Amber a glance before looking at Nathaniel apologetically. "It seems like Amber has been stealing Kentin's money for some time… he's been hiding it for a few weeks now."

Nathaniel shifted his gaze to Ken who kept his eyes down in perhaps shame.

"Some time! I only took his money a few times!" Amber protested and Nathaniel sighed.

"You're admitting it," he mumbled and pressed a hand to his forehead. "Amber you can't be stealing from other students."

Amber crossed her arms in open defiance for his authority, expecting him to crumble like their father.

"It isn't my fault," she said. "It's his for being friends with that Michael."

"It's Michelle," Ken said and squirmed when the attention swung to him.

"Does she bother you that much," Nathaniel demanded in exasperation.

"Nathaniel…" Melody touched his arm. "We can't allow it to go on. We need to discipline Amber this time."

Nathaniel sighed. Had he been feeling content? Surprisingly yes he had been. And a part of him still was… miracles.

He glanced at his sister's petulant face, at Melody's expectant face that told him to do the right thing and uphold the rules, to Ken's downcast one. What would Lizzie do?

"How much has she taken," Nathaniel asked and reached into his back pocket to pull his wallet out.

Ken did a dance around him about not being troubled but Nathaniel insisted until he had deposited a couple twenties into the teenager's hands. He scolded his sister liberally, thinking that Ken was too skinny to miss a single meal.

"About this Michael-"

"It's Michelle," Melody reminded him with a small frown, obviously not liking he wasn't intending to punish Amber. He couldn't do anything about it though beyond reimburse the geeky kid unless he accused her.

"Yes, of course. If she's gained your attentions maybe I should have a word with her."

Amber perked up and Melody looked at him incredulously.

"You'd really do that for me?" Amber's eyes were swimming with fake tears of happiness. Nathaniel happened to know that she carried around a vile of eye drops to bend the schoolboys around her to her will. He often got to deal with the schoolboys when they got caught performing her schemes.

"Nathaniel are you certain you want to get involved…?" Melody asked.

"No I just figured that with you as the enemy the poor girl could use an ally."

"Jerk," Amber muttered it and brushed a hand through her curls.

"It's rare for you to go out of your way to make an acquaintance." Melody was now looking at him with furrowed brows as though he had sprouted an extra head.

"Is it," Nathaniel asked her lightly and smiled a little.

It was true. Nathaniel wasn't social beyond necessity. And he didn't have such long bouts of content during school when every teacher, student, and mother of a student was clamoring for his help with something.

Was it her? Was he more accepting because of Lizzie?

He was on his way to lunch when first a girl ran past him with red hair and a smaller brown blur nearly tripped beside him trying to keep up. Nathaniel grabbed Ken by the arm before he could splat himself onto the ceramic but the papers he was holding flew into the air.

"Thanks a lot Natty- catty!"

Nathaniel chewed his cheek as he kneeled to gather the papers with the younger teen. There really had to be a discussion about how to use his proper name. If that nickname kept up it might stick with all the students. As it was a few had glanced at them when the name was said before scurrying to lunch with smothered giggles.

"It isn't a problem." Nathaniel smiled at him and handed him the gathered papers. "So is Lizzie actually sick this time or is she just being her usual self?"

Ken hesitated a moment. "Lizzie… she isn't coming back anymore."

Nathaniel couldn't say he understood the words. He asked what he meant and was startled by the tears suddenly swimming and falling in waves down the freckled face under the coke glasses.

"Lizzie isn't coming back to this school anymore!"

The sobs were loud. Nathaniel couldn't even be embarrassed to be near the crying Ken though when something in him seemed to have halted, gears grinding to a halt swiftly.

"Hey! What are you doing to Ken?"

He glanced up to see the red head from before with her arms crossed, foot tapping impatiently.

"I didn't do anything," he told her dully. "And you are?"

"Michelle. Sweetie what's wrong?" Though she was curt with him he could excuse it for wanting to find out what was wrong with Ken. "Did that blond guy do something?"

"N-no. He didn't… it's just Lizzie is… gone!"

The words weren't easier to swallow the second time around. Michelle looked a little lost as she stared at him dumbly before she spazzed and dug around her bag, throwing tissues and cookie packs at the teen.

"Where did she go to?" His voice was sharper than he intended. It didn't work.

"I'm sorry… Lizzie made me pro-"

"_As far as I am aware she has lived in the same house with her Aunt for the past ten years. But she hasn't ever stayed in the same school more than a year or two. Funny thing is she wasn't kicked out of them."_

Nathaniel listened to know more as he remembered the words. His steps echoed as he turned sharply from the direction of the lunch room and headed to the council room. He through the door open with more force than he used, feeling brutish when Melody jumped from her seat. She mostly ate in the council room in order to study while she ate. A truly diligent student.

He ignored her, not even bothering to smile as he normally would have. He had a silver set of keys in his palm as he paused in front of a filing cabinet. It turned easily in the lock and he wasted no time shifting through the files.

"Nathaniel what is it? Can I help you in some way," Melody had risen just as he pulled a thick manila free and flipped it open.

It wasn't there. No notice or accepted transfer slip. She hadn't done anything yet.

"Nathaniel?" Melody took the folder and closed it and it was only then that he noticed there was a fine tremble in his fingers. Relief? Or maybe even anger…

She read the name. "What has Lizzie done?"

"Nothing yet," he answered. "Everything."

The words weren't meant to make sense. They didn't make sense to him. Not even in his own mind could he sort things.

Melody cleared her throat delicately. "You… care for her? She means something to you."

Nathaniel looked at her blankly as she busied herself. She shooed him and he backed away so she could put the folder back neatly. She caught his eye and folded her hands demurely before her.

"I'm not blind," she told him softly. "I used to be the only one you came to willingly. Everyone else was a chore for you, a duty. I knew it. But she isn't a duty. She's a worry you don't mind. A chore you do willingly, in fact you do it rather determinedly."

"Why Nathaniel?" it was a little desperate. "Why is she so different from everyone else?"

What was it called? A revelation? Nathaniel had always thought that a revelation was learning something large and shocking that he'd never knew before. This was different.

He had always known it. Deep down, he had always been aware of it but it was not until today that he had been willing and was prepared to acknowledge it.

Lizzie had saved his life. He was not going to return to the grey life that had been led before they'd met. He was not going to go back to that, to watching the days flow into the next with hardly any transition in between, always watching other people's happiness, always standing on the outside looking in.

He would not be content with days he wasn't beat. He wouldn't allow them anymore. Somehow that slip of a girl had drug him from the deep where nothing breached his walls. She had forced him to feel things, to live. More than that she had made him want to live. Not merely exist.

Before Melody could protest he was gone like a shot. Even as someone, some teacher, yelled at him not to run in the halls Nathaniel was gone. Out into the fresh air, he bolted down the sidewalks. Through traffic rather recklessly, past shops, past the river they had sat at, past the park they had hung out at. And all the way to her house.

"Is Lizzie hone," he asked when her aunt finally opened the door after minutes of frantic knocking. He hadn't been able to catch any breath back into his protesting lungs so his words came out rather pathetic.

"Eh…? Lizzie? No she isn't in." Her aunt was yawning lazily. Just what the hell did the woman do for a living?

"Do you have any idea where she's gone?"

"None," she shrugged.

None? Nathaniel wanted to snap at her, to demand how she could call herself Lizzie's aunt but then she would have refused when he asked to come in.

He was shocked she said yes and stepped aside, allowing him to go up the stairs without even following.

What kind of woman just let someone walk into their niece's room? Sure, she knew that Nathaniel was a friend but he'd hardly visited enough times to be trusted. What if he wanted to steal her money or possessions? What if he was a pervert?

Shaking his head of the thoughts, he hurried to her room. It was a trip as usual but Nathaniel managed to wade through the mess and junk in order to find something, anything that would give a clue to where she was going.

Nathaniel sorted through her desk, pulling out drawers and searching through her folders. As he pulled out the last folder on her desk, a prospectus for several high schools fell out. Nathaniel caught it before it hit the floor and flicked through it like a man possessed.

Some schools were crossed out with a broad red marker pen, others were circled. Amongst the list of names Sweet Amoris high school was circled, as was Peter's academy. A date and time had also been marked out besides it.

"_No, no, I think you'd look cute in the uniform for Peter's academy! They're uniforms are so unique."_

"_This time for real Nathaniel. Goodbye."_

It was not too late. Nathaniel thought it and ignored the ping that he was being far too possessive and too active.

Why? Why would she do something like this? Was that why she looked so relieved, why she was so compliant yesterday? Because she knew that she would be in no danger of forming an attachment since she would be leaving anyway?

"That idiot!"

Nathaniel should have been named athlete of the year for all the running done that day. He made it to the bus station just as the clock struck three. Lizzie's appointment was at five fifteen. If it took an hour to get there on the train then she should still be at the station waiting for it.

With a small feeling of relief Nathaniel made his way to the platform to knock some sense into the elusive blond about life.

Unfortunately, the open platform was already quite crowded so that it would take some time to find her. As long as the train didn't arrive, it would be fine.

Nathaniel called her name as he pushed through the crowds. Even as he searched, he couldn't find her at all. He pushed past the suits lined near the edge waiting, struggling past crowds of people, looking frantically this way and that.

The bus was coming closer now and he felt his heart panicked. The familiar rushing roar of the bus began to grow.

Where was she? She had to be here so where was she? As Nathaniel spun around, his breath caught in his throat.

In all the months Nathaniel had known Lizzie he always called her an idiot, said that she had no attention span. But just then he realized that he's been just as stupid and all the mistakes in their relationship had been his.

Lizzie stood there, dressed as if she had planned to go to school that day, her hair ruffled by the wind and a tender smile teasing her lips. She looked at Nathaniel and her smile widened until it reached the blue of her eyes. Nathaniel looked at her in wonder, almost amazed.

She mouthed something deliberately until the bus pulled onto the opposite platform, cutting her from sight.

Nathaniel felt beyond stupid. Why? How could he have made such an idiotic mistake?

In his haste he had run onto the wrong side of the platform, on the opposite side of the street from where Lizzie stood. It was too late to make a break for it now. Nathaniel could only watch as she stepped on and the bus pulled away again, taking her with it.

What did it feel like when something someone desired to catch hold of suddenly disappears from reach? It's strange. When they turn around expecting to see someone, but no one's there. No matter how hard he searched, that person wasn't there anymore.

He ran over to the opposite platform as soon as the bus left. The next one was in thirty minutes. Nathaniel waited for it in silence but didn't bother getting on. There was no point in getting on. After all, by the time he made it there, it would be too late.

End chapter

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_**Author note:**_ Hope you all liked! See you next chapter.


	10. Break the Barriers

_**Author note:**_ Being poor sucks. Since he's an unmotivated collage student and I'm a tiny fish with writing dreams my boyfriend and I have decided to drop our internet/cable bill. Neither of us is on the computer nor watches enough TV to justify it when we have car payments and bills we need like water. This will not affect my schedule for updates or my responding to reviews. My PM's might be affected as it won't be so soon I respond to them anymore. Free wifi at the coffee shop, isn't it wonderful?

_**Beautyofsunlight:**_ I was always told never to be a cover reader and to dig so I like being able to layer my characters nicely and it's nice to hear I'm doing it succesfully! Amber was a little hard. I wanted to leave her superficial something fierce! In the end I ouldn't because Nathaniel needs someone in his corner even if she ends up being a cause for some of his beatings. She never means to though. I think she does love her brother greatly in the game. Heehee I knew people would be curious about what she mouthed! I'll let that stew a spell. My family teased me too when I tried to play with words. It's a family thing I guess!

**Germandelights:** We really did go off topic didn't we? This chapter is loaded with feels. Get a kerchief ready! No, kidding. I'm not into that emotional depth of writing that I can make people cry yet. Nathaniel has some shining moments here in this chapter. As I write him I fall more into pixel crush with him. Gotta wonder what this means for my Castiel/Lysander triangle... square time!

_**Darkangelanddarkstar:**_I love grammer freaks because I am not one. I might correct a mistake if I catch it but spell check, if it didn't exist... oh goodness. There goes that dream of publishing a book! But I'm glad you like this so far. It's great seeing people from Awakening come over to my new house. (story wise, not really my house)

_**Sparkfirebug:** _Hmm I wonder... it's possible, it depends on how attatched I grow to her character. She was kinda just... I dropped her in for convenience sake. If enough people like her I might do something with her. But whether she'll go with Ken or Castiel I don't know... gah, decisions hurt my fragile skull!

_**Owldistraction:**_Well my last story ran a while, longer than I originally intended. So who knows when anything concrete will happen for the two. I actually have a word wheel I use in school to increase my verbal skills. Michelle is... just a random drop in. So far I don't have any plans for her except random appearences maybe.

_**Disclaimer:** _Nope, nope, nope… Lizzie… yes.

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Chapter start

"Nathaniel!" his mother was on him the moment he stepped through the door. He ignored her and stalked up the stairs, her voice trailing after him. "We got a call from your school. Where were you all day? Your father won't be happy about this!"

That made him pause on the stairs, his foot hanging in the air as he turned to look at her. He wondered how he looked in that moment. There was probably an absolute look of weary anger mixed with useless effort. It's all he could manage at the moment.

Yet now he felt a small sense of reckless abandon. He was a rubber band stretched too far. He had been pulled too loosely before Lizzie had skipped into his life. She had done a bang up job of pulling him apart, unraveling everything that he knew as Nathaniel, as himself. He finally just… snapped.

"And you care?" he demanded lowly. His mother froze and gaped at him, not used to her son having a challenging glint in his eyes or tone.

"Of course I do!"

"Then how about you don't tell him? Or even better… why not stand up for your only son?"

Nathaniel reversed and went to stand before her. It had never occurred to him that he was now taller than his mother, almost as tall as his father. She was delicate and fragile, almost like a china doll. It was insane to think when he was a child he had been in awe of the creature in front of him. She had seemed so big and his father giant.

This was the women who had held him after his father yelled. This was the women he had seen crying into the palms of her hands too many times to be happily married. This was also the women who had stopped holding him after Amber was born. The one who let him get beaten and never raised a hand to stop it or even her voice. She only cleaned the blood and lied through her teeth about her love for her kids.

"I'm your only son," he said. "Shouldn't that count for something in both of your books? I get perfect marks on my academics. I volunteer at functions. I learned everything that you and he thought were important. I'm not even picking my own colleges because of you two, because I can't decide for myself. I'm too stupid to do that!

"And… maybe I am. Maybe you two are right. I had something so good… and I couldn't see it. Because it was wrapped up in some crazy, asinine and insane package. It took me too long to figure out it was just another shell like I have."

"Nathaniel…?" He must have been confusing her. He had never spoken to her more than snatches.

"Even then it isn't okay for you two to do this. It isn't right for him to beat the hell out of me! It sure as hell isn't okay for you to just stand there like a statue and let him!"

"Nathaniel cal-"

"You don't get to tell me to calm down!" She flinched back. "You've never been a mother, let alone mine! So don't you dare try and act like you care. Your only concern isn't why I missed school it's the fact the neighbors will talk, that dad will be mad. I'm sick of it! A mother is supposed to care about her children; she's supposed to keep them from harm no matter who it is hurting them!

"I was a bad kid I know. I was mean, I was cruel, and I didn't listen. So you just let him beat that out of me. What else could you do? You were at your ropes end with me I guess so that makes it just fine that you let him put a six year old in the hospital three times. That now you don't even bother to take me to the hospital. Would you two even care if I bled out in the floor? Or would you be fucking relieved?"

She was crying now, her eyes swimming with tears. Nathaniel felt sick. A pit was inside him and with a throb he recognized it for what it was. Loneliness. He couldn't even care that she was crying and that she was a tragedy.

This creature that had once been so bright to him was nothing. She was dim, she wasn't a fairy anymore. His father had done that. He had chipped away at her until she was nothing more than a shadow, a wraith that haunted the house, trying desperately to cling to some normalcy because she couldn't admit her family wasn't real. And Nathaniel had just used her for an emotional punching bag. Just like his father would have.

There had always been that kernel of fear. What if he was just like his dad on the inside… he had once been such a horrible little kid that was prone to fits, to breaking things and not caring. He had used to scream like this at her and his dad.

Sure he was good now. He held it in; he stayed calm in almost every situation. He was the perfect student and the perfect seeming son. But then even his dad wasn't just an abusive fuck. He was well liked by everyone outside of the family. He was brilliant, a true scholar. Nathaniel counted himself lucky to have inherited that brain even as he despised the man for making him lie, for making him afraid.

But he was lonelier than anything. Because he had been so scared he was like that, that he could be as violent as his dad he had refused to get close to anyone. Nathaniel had rationalized it in his head that it would be better to keep everyone at an arms length. To protect them and himself from that moment when he snapped.

Until a fluffy headed slip of a tornado had come barreling into his walls and merrily dug a hole for herself, a nest in his very being, before flying away now.

"Idiot," the word was harsh because it was covered in the thickness in his throat.

It hadn't been directed at anyone in particular. Maybe himself or Lizzie. Maybe even his mother.

"I'm so… s-sorry Nathaniel!"

With some form of regret he rubbed his mothers shoulder. He wasn't sorry. It had needed to be said. But he didn't want to hurt the women who had given him life.

Nathaniel pushed her gently and guided her to a chair in the living room. As she sobbed hysterically into her hands he set about making some tea and adding liberal amounts to scotch to it. His mother's cure all, and part of the Sterling family secret. His father was abusive and his mother was borderline alcoholic.

Once she was settled he retreated to his room, unable to think in more than small snatches. The clock moved at a steady pace as he flopped onto his bed and stared at the ceiling with churning gut and a headache.

He ignored the call for dinner. He ignored his father knocking on his door, of his mother pleading softly for him to be left alone. He knew that Amber was the reason he didn't get his door broken down. She had come up and diverted their father from him with talk of the school play.

Minutes turned into hours. Nathaniel was aware he had homework. He was also aware that Melody was waiting for a call from him. He knew it all in that moment but he didn't even want to move an inch to cover his face or body with the comforter.

He didn't know how long he laid there in a kind of stupor. All he knew was when he finally managed to gather the strength to get from the bed the clock said it was after midnight.

If Nathaniel had any sense he would have pulled the covers down and went to bed, maybe pleaded off school and faked an illness for a few days. But he knew deep in his soul there wouldn't be any sleep tonight. That and hanging out with Lizzie had probably knocked a few of his brain cells off circuit.

Without any sound he slipped his thick coat on and went downstairs with the certainty the rest of the house was asleep. There was no way in hell he was going to get halted by his father who would undoubtedly have a fist waiting. Though Nathaniel had decided and knew he would follow through with it that he wouldn't allow his father to strike him any more he had no idea how to stop it. He wasn't ready to figure it out yet either.

Nathaniel stole out of the house almost like a thief. The night air was chilly and startling despite the heavy coat, telling him that the falls mild weather was fading to be replaced by winters grasp. Before he totally left the yard he turned and glanced up at the house. It was plainly elegant, with a tree in the front yard that had once had a tire swing on it. Flowers blossomed in the gardens along the front; the bushes lining the sidewalk were neat and trimmed. A trellis was under his window and he knew that was how Lizzie had once gotten up into his room.

His first objective was to get to her house and to talk some sense into her. Even if she was sleeping he would shake her until she was good and wide awake and then… what? What would he say to her? All he knew was his own feelings and that he didn't want her to keep up with this running. He wanted… no, he needed her to really live.

Before he thought of anything he was at her house. The lights were still on. Nathaniel was surprised but pleased that he wouldn't have to go throwing bricks into windows to get some attention.

The doorbell rang and a moment later Lizzie's aunt dressed in a vest and shorts peered sleepily from inside. The TV was running and the sound of canned laughter came from the set.

"Excuse me, I'd like to talk to Lizzie," Nathaniel spoke with more confidence than he felt, giving no excuse for the lateness or apologizing for the time.

"Lizzie?" her aunt leaned on the door and scratched her belly. "I don't know where she is," she shrugged.

Nathaniel unconsciously drew a sharp breath.

"She... she hasn't come home yet?" It was already late and all the schools would be closed by now. Nathaniel quickly pushed the apprehension out of his mind. There was no need to be worried. Who would be worried about that idiot anyway? Duh… he knew of one person who was.

"Staying out all night isn't unusual for her," she shrugged again. "God knows what that girl does all day."

"Well maybe you should find out," Nathaniel replied tersely.

"What's that?" she blinked lazily, hardly listening.

Nathaniel glared at her. Never so badly had he wanted to hit someone, not even Castiel.

"You're her aunt, aren't you? You should know these things! Her favorite food, her song…do you know anything about her at all?" Nathaniel demanded angrily.

Her aunt looked thoroughly bored "Look, Lizzie doesn't have a problem with how I raise her. I give her freedom and let her do whatever she wants and she's fine with that."

"You're two strangers living in the same house!" Nathaniel yelled in frustration. Before he stalked off, Nathaniel looked back and snapped at her, "And for your information, Lizzie's favorite food is gummi bear sandwiches! Her favorite kind of pets are cats, though she has a soft spot for dogs with floppy ears, she can't sing worth a damn but she's always bellowing songs she hears off of musicals from the roof, she laughs at the stupidest things and when she smiles - "

Nathaniel stopped and breathed in a small breath. What was he doing? Since her uncle was staring at me, Nathaniel decided that he might as well finish since his pride was already tattered.

"When she's really, sincerely smiling, she looks sort of cute," Nathaniel grumbled and took off into the night.

_"I don't like Bus's very much. You stand there alone on a crowded platform amongst all those strangers," she said ruefully. "I always think that someone will suddenly appear. Wouldn't it be kinda nice if someone showed up unexpectedly when you're feeling lonely?"_

Lizzie had said that. Now Nathaniel sort of understood what she meant.

The bus couldn't arrive fast enough. Nathaniel boarded impatiently and muttered his undying hate to the bus for being so slow as it crawled its way through the stations.

There was no idea where Lizzie could have been. For all Nathaniel knew she was hanging by the river back home, but his gut insisted otherwise.

Finally, the bus pulled into the right station. He ran off, wondering where to go next. If he took a shortcut through the park next to the station, he could be at Saint Peter's academy's gates in twenty minutes, but why would the moron still hang around that school?

Still, it was better than standing on a deserted platform all night.

The park was already shut. He had to climb over the gates to get in, which was no difficult task really. He was relatively muscled underneath his stable and boring clothes and he was diligent in remaining healthy and fit. Not that he ever thought his fitness regiment would be used to trespass in a closed park ever.

The trees were lined up in neat rows which wound through large squares of grass fields. Their shadows were all dark and ominous as the wind blew. The path was illuminated by the crescent moon that hung over head. It didn't do anything but make the shadows longer and more sinister.

It wasn't his fault he almost missed it. But he was thankful that something told him to look back swiftly. His golden eyes pierced into the darkness to try and locate whatever had him tensed.

The trees were thick and he tried to figure out the shadows there, an odd dark mass curled up at the base of one. It took him a second as he got closer to see it was Lizzie. He had found her finally.

She was curled up at the base with her back pressed to the rough bark, her head down against her drawn up knees. Nathaniel sighed a bit.

It didn't surprise him one single bit that she was here and that was annoying. It was perfectly natural for Lizzie to just be somewhere casually no matter the time of the day.

"Lizzie."

His voice went unheard and a small kernel of worry bit him until he got close enough to realize she was sleeping, her body moving with her deep breaths. Sleeping and shivering from the cold. Only she would be so… there wasn't a word for it… idiot had stopped covering the range of her actions. But only she would be in a park after hours and sleeping peacefully.

He wondered which the bigger fool was. Her for being the way she was or him for not minding. He guessed it didn't matter in the end. Because Nathaniel had decided. He had decided that he was going to protect this girl for the rest of the time they were together. It was what he wanted to do and it was the first thing he started because he wanted to, not because his father had told him to or it was a way to keep his image in place.

He said her name louder this time. He waited patiently until she shifted a little and pushed from her knees. She regarded him with hazy blue eyes for a second covered in sleep.

He wondered how he looked to her as she slowly woke up, him standing there in a brown button up coat and what he imagined was a solemn look in his eyes.

"N-natty…?" Lizzie's voice was soft as he held out a hand and she took it absently and let him tug her to her feet. They regarded each other for a second.

Then her eyes widened. He wasn't sure if she was just startled now that her mind had woken up too or if she really didn't want to see him. But she suddenly was all action, shoving him away from her and bolting down the path.

Naturally Nathaniel followed after her as she ran through the parks grassy landscape, kicking leaves up with every step.

"Why are you running?" He bellowed after her.

"Because you're chasing me!" she yelled it over her shoulder.

"Stop running!"

"Stop chasing me!"

"Do I look that dumb?"

"Shall I be truthful or tactful?"

"As if you could _ever _be tactful!" Nathaniel yelled back before he made a calculated lunge. He careened into her legs and sent them both into a child's made up leaf pile with a muffled "ow!" from him and a yelp from her as she crashed.

He was panting from the running he had done. So was Lizzie. Her chest was heaving up and down, up and down, her hair in disarray against the cushion of leaves, her mouth parted to drink the sweet air.

Nathaniel grunted, crawled beside her and rolled onto his back, breathing heavily. His arms were damp with droplets of rain that had probably clung to the leaves and his coat smelt of the wet earth.

"You idiot!" Nathaniel managed to hiss. "What do you think you're doing here? You like making people worry, don't you?"

She waited until she had recovered enough to speak without wheezing and then smiled a little bitterly, turning her head sideways.

"Heh, sorry, Natty-catty."

Lizzie sat up, made to stand and walk away but Nathaniel grabbed her before she could even get to her feet. She was pinned underneath him quickly and held firmly by her shoulders so she sank into the leaves.

Part of Nathaniel, somewhere, somehow, briefly worried over how incriminating it must have looked and demanded to know why he was so adamant about this, but he largely ignored that trivial part of his brain. He didn't want to think that he was being stupid. He wouldn't believe that he was being clingy or childish. One had to take a firm hand when dealing with elusive idiots such as the one he'd managed to pin down.

"Don't look at me like that," he seethed. "Be serious! I'm not letting you go until you are."

Lizzie's eyes were closed to him, almost glazed over so that neither of them could see deep into the other's eyes. A smile curled her lips that failed to go anywhere, her mouth parted but she didn't laugh.

"So you came all this way to find me?" she asked.

Though her voice was unassuming it had a sharpness hidden underneath it that made his grip tighten. Lizzie's smile widened and still, somehow, failed to look authentic. "You shouldn't have. You didn't have to go out of your way…doing something so troublesome."

"If I thought it was troublesome, I wouldn't have bothered. Why the hell do you think I'm out here anyway?" Nathaniel snapped.

"Because you've decided to embrace the spirit of a true delinquent?"

"Idiot! It's because I wanted to!"

Her expression was priceless, as if she had just discovered the sun.

Nathaniel growled at her and went on. "I know that you don't want to be attached to anyone, you don't want to be obligated to do things that you don't want to. But if you like someone, you won't mind having to do things for them."

His heart was pounding but he couldn't discern the reason why. There was something tingling in his chest, something hard and horrible that made his stomach squirm.

What was it? Fear? Hope? Anger? Apprehension? There was no name for this feeling. It infested his stomach and wormed its way through his system, taking over every rational.

Nathaniel held his breath, feeling like a fool.

Lizzie's fingers reached. They latched onto the second button of his coat and brushed it as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. "So does this mean that you like me?" her voice murmured, thick with fatigue.

"What?"

Lizzie remained absorbed by the button.

Caught dangerously close to admitting something other than reluctant friendship, Nathaniel hesitantly replied, "you're…tolerable."

"I suppose so," she agreed then said, "I was really lonely before you came."

Somehow, Nathaniel got the impression that she wasn't talking about when she was wandering by herself a few hours ago.

However, thinking about that brought an unwelcome subject to mind.

"How was your enrolment?" Nathaniel asked, forcing the question out.

"I didn't enroll," she said bluntly.

Her smile plummeted but his heart soared.

"I haven't officially left our old school either so…"

"What?" was becoming Nathaniel's favorite one-word phrase.

She looked almost pained. Although she tried to keep the wavering smile plastered it was failing miserably. Her face scrunched up in a vain attempt to hold it there but eventually, with grave finality, she let it flutter uselessly.

The smile gone, she looked up at Nathaniel with eyes that were full of optimism and fear, pain and hope. Her mouth remained slightly parted. She looked different, open and vulnerable, confused and lost. She was like a butterfly that had just broken from its cocoon and was struggling to fly.

"I got to the school and then I started having doubts," she whispered, her voice trembling in the moist air. "I was confused. I've never doubted myself before. I always cut through life, moving faster than my doubts and sadness could catch up to me. It didn't make any sense. All these thoughts kept going through my mind. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't go through with it. Why do I doubt myself now?"

Nathaniel stayed silent, staring down at her body lying beneath him. She didn't look like she was going to run but he kept the position, fearing that the slightest shift in the atmosphere would shatter this fragile moment.

Lizzie clenched her teeth in an internal battle, fighting something inside. Nathaniel watched as she struggled and realized that she had been stubbornly holding back tears.

"I hate you, Natty-catty!" she spat as they spilled onto her cheeks. She stared at him accusingly with all the energy that she could muster.

"If you didn't always get in my way I wouldn't be feeling so miserable right now!" she cried.

There was nothing. Nathaniel was so calm that it surprised even himself. A smile took over his lips, curling warmly as he nodded. Maybe he was feeling nothing at all. Or he was feeling everything at once. In the end it didn't matter.

"Yeah, I know."

Her fists moved to hurriedly wipe away the tears, looking obstinate and defiant even as they escaped her. She tried to look away, tried to hide them. Had the circumstances been different, she would have blamed it on being sleepy or hay fever but Nathaniel wouldn't buy such excuses now and she gave none.

"If you weren't there, I could just keep running! If you weren't so insistent, I would never have had to doubt myself. I would never have had to wonder if I was just pretending to be happy!" She lifted his arms up. Nathaniel thought she was going to try and strangle him from below but instead her hands became fists, pounding half-heartedly at his chest.

"I hate you!"

"Yeah."

"I'll hate you 'til you die!"

"Okay."

"I'll never forgive you!"

"That's fine," Nathaniel agreed, "But, since you'll hate my guts for a long time, would you mind coming back home?"

Nathaniel wasn't sure if she was shocked. He thought that he felt her draw a sharp breath but that could have been imagination.

Her hands flattened against his coat and then they went up and wrapped around his neck, her hands were cold as ice and he was jolted by it, remembering it was cold out and Lizzie was in wet leaves and had no jacket on, nothing to give her warmth. He cleared his throat guiltily.

"Why?" Lizzie whispered as she finally gained control over her tears. "What is it about you that makes me unable to run away? Why do I always have to face up to life when you're with me?"

Nathaniel looked away, turning his attention to the brown and golden leaves.

"I could ask you the same question. What is it about you that makes me unable to run away?"

There weren't any answers they could possibly give each other. In the darkness of the night Nathaniel closed his eyes and shifted so he lay against her lightly and she tightened her arms, sighing softly when he kissed her throat absently and breathed in her scent.

It was as if there was nothing else in the universe, as if the world only existed for this moment. It was too perfect to be real. It did not feel real. Lizzie laying there on the wet leaves, her hair in disarray and her cheeks dashed with red, and Nathaniel, on top of her in such complete calmness.

He wondered if the world would end soon.

Lizzie shifted more so she could press her forehead against his and he felt her breath against his face, it caused tingles to cross him from the warmth of it. Her eyes were closed to him still but he saw the small smile on her tear stained face.

Then she sighed and he climbed off of her when she pushed him gently. She stood up first and stretched. The world remained.

"Let's go home," she said and offered him a hand to get him to his feet. She smiled like a child and her breath tickled his ear when she wrapped herself back in his arms. "Let's go home, Natty."

End chapter

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_**Author note:**_ Aw situation resolved yaaay! How'd you guys like this ones length? I was in a mood I guess. My fingers are still itching actually! See you guys next time. Hope you liked!


	11. The mother of mothers brings trouble

_**Author note:**_ Heehee we got ourselves quiet a pile of snow these past few days! It's been super playing in it and then drinking copious amounts of hot chocolate until our stomachs hurt from being so warm and full. I must say I'll be sad when our own personal Mr. Snowmate melts. That's right we named the snowman. And be thankful too! Not only is Mr. Snowmate a great lawn decoration to marvel at, he and the snow gave me inspiration for a future chapter. So Mistakes will continue!

_**Owldistraction:**_ That summary lured you? And to think I put it up because I couldn't think of anything else to write for it! I'm really glad you like it so far. Actually the last chapter was going to be the final but then I got another inspiration spike.

_**Sparkfirebug:**_ I know I am. I tried writing the kiss but it just seemed so out of place for the moment. Don't ask why, I couldn't explain. But I wrote this big kiss and then I stared at it until I deleted it. I'm glad I did now, it turned out nice with more of their huggles. Hope you keep liking!

_**Beautyofsunlight:**_ I'm glad you liked. I never tried anthing that involved abuse so heavily so I had no concrete idea of how the characters would act. Like I said I've really fallen for Nathaniel since I started writing him. At this point I might be dissapointed if there isn't some huge story arc with him super soon in the game. Of course once there is one it'll probably blow all the abuse rumors out of the water and my fiction will become implossible. oh, well... I'm glad you liked it so much!

_**Disclaimer:**_ if I owned MCL it would be littered with pictures just tailor made to suggest the things that make a die hard fan girl nosebleed to death.

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Chapter start

Lizzie had stayed with him.

And she had reverted to a smaller form of Dictator Lizzie.

And he wondered how on earth he could still function when he was so tired from her popping up in his room and dragging him around town again.

His head hit the desk roughly as he belatedly realized he was rereading the same sentence over and over again without retaining any of it.

"Nathaniel, are you alright?" Melody put a gentle hand on his shoulder and he forced himself to nod.

What could he say?

_Sure, Melody, I'm peachy keen. Just currently in a friendship that is anything but normal with a girl that acts like she has no common sense or ability to stay alive beyond tomorrow. She's just everything I hate, chaotic, unorganized, uncaring about others, has zero skill in being anything but selfish most days and when she manages to slow her pace down and care she gets scared and tries to fly past and my fingers are more than a little scorched from trying to hold onto her but I can't seem to stop now that I've grabbed her once and now I'm on the lookout for the next cliff she'll drag me onto. _

Yes, because he could say all that to Melody of all people. Not only did he regard her as a good friend she was also the girl he had one day seen himself as being married to. It was odd. He didn't want Melody yet. He had no deeper feeling for her in that way beyond the fact she had a nice body and was pleasing to look at and she was sensitive and supportive of everything and anything. And that was just because he was a guy and had passed puberty.

It was just… he looked at it like one of those already forgone conclusions. Maybe his future wife wouldn't be Melody herself but it would be someone very like her. Someone who was pleasant and kind, who was smart as he was and who would be a wonderful wife and mother as well as a career woman in her own right.

He knew she still had those feelings for him and he didn't want to hurt her. So how could he try and tell her he was thinking constantly of a fluffy headed blond girl, that his whole plan for himself was changing before his eyes and it was scaring him even as he was torn between grabbing it desperately and letting it go?

"I'm just tired Melody." He couldn't.

She smiled and sat beside him, all game to help him get through his paperwork. The difference between the two girls he was closest to minus his sister was odd and he wondered at his brain that it warned him off Melody and the perfect life to other less known things.

Nathaniel had learned throughout the rather forced friendship certain things Lizzie adored. Cake; especially chocolate cake, cute things, which confirmed her femininity, and lastly bright colors which explained the one time Lizzie bought a set of fireworks and launched them into the sky; not caring if there was still sun out and people were terrified of the fact she set them off too close to them for safety.

This resulted in multiple injuries, property damage, and a massive headache afterward. Mostly for him anyway.

However, as much as Nathaniel knew about Lizzie in general, there were times that he felt like he really didn't know her at all. Sometimes it pissed him off to no end while other times he would just ask himself why he should care.

Why should he be bothered with a person who had basically given up on her life without a fight? Why bother with an idiot who always smiled but wasn't truly happy with herself? Why bother trying to break through to her?

He knew why. Nathaniel had known why he bothered for a while now. Why he wasn't going to give up.

Hell would freeze over first for all he cared.

But did Lizzie feel the same?

The girl who refused to see herself as anything valuable. The girl who refused to befriend anyone beyond him and Ken and even then it was a stretch. The one who had stolen his heart from the start.

Nathaniel, despite himself, was worried and scared of the result.

For once, he didn't want to find out. If anything was left to rest about Lizzie then that would be it. Her true feelings, if she had any, when referring to him.

"Natty!"

Nathaniel was now bent over some paperwork, the pen touching his forehead as he read with Melody at his side. One minute it was peaceful and the next it was noisy. That's how it always was when Lizzie was in the room. She could be still as a statue yet even the air seemed to take on a more vibrant stance.

He tried to stay focused on his paperwork. Even when she wrapped her arms around him and plonked her chin on top of his head rather painfully. Melody was too polite.

"How have you been Lizzie?" Melody smiled and Nathaniel wondered how much of that was truth.

Lizzie glanced at her and he knew she'd be smiling her own fake little smile. "Oh it's peachy! My mom is coming to town soon so I was gonna invite Natty over to meet her."

Nathaniel paused and the pen dropped. He turned in his seat so fast he unbalanced Lizzie.

"Wah! You should warn people before you move so suddenly Natty-catty!"

"Then don't hang off of me," he retorted with furrowed brows. "When is she coming?"

"Today, around four."

"And you're just now asking me," he demanded and rubbed his temples.

"She just now told us," Lizzie retorted with another smile.

Melody blinked. "Isn't it a little short notice though?"

Lizzie glanced at her. "Oh she's always like that. It's always so troublesome too since she expects me to be there."

Melody made some comment about it being a way to show proper respect to parents and Lizzie made an appropriate comment back. It was in that exchange Nathaniel saw it. The way Lizzie's eyes partially closed and she gave Melody a lazy, rather knowing look from the corner of her eyes that vanished as quick as it came.

There was something there. Something about 'parents' and 'familial duty' that bothered Lizzie, that she either didn't like or didn't want to follow.

It was a distance. Nathaniel wondered if she wanted him to go as a support or as a way to annoy her mother. In the end it didn't matter. If he said no she'd probably drag him anyway.

So it came that at the end of school he waited for her patiently while she ran around and did god knows what to get ready. Lizzie burst out of the school and barely managed to stop before she crashed into him.

"Are you ready to go Natty?" she was smiling so brightly and he frowned, knowing it as fake.

"You shouldn't do that." He brushed a hand over her cheek.

"Do what?"

"Smile like you aren't worried about something. You shouldn't lie to yourself or anyone about when you aren't happy."

Lizzie blinked at him for a moment before the smile became a little rueful. She reached up and took his hand in her own, pressing it to her chest. A small line of blush burst over his features as he felt her heartbeat under his flattened palm.

"You aren't anyone. You're everyone," she told him.

"That makes no sense," he returned.

"It makes perfect sense to me!"

Nathaniel shook his head as she ran ahead of him, dropping his hand. She wasn't making sense again. He wondered if she ever would and if he'd be as determined if she did.

Lizzie chattered away insistently while they waited for the bus and then even more so when they were off the bus and walking the remaining mile to her home. It wasn't until they were near enough to see it that Lizzie fell silent. Nathaniel looked ahead and saw the unfamiliar black car parked in the driveway.

Lizzie unlocked the door and they went in. While she divulged herself of her scarf and coat Nathaniel found himself frowning. The energy in the house was off.

"What's wrong," Lizzie asked when he stood there.

"It's very cold in here."

Lizzie laughed at him a little. "What are you talking about? It's plenty warm in here! Though I guess… we can turn the thermostat up some if you're cold."

It wasn't as if it was always overflowing with love and warmth. This house but it had never felt cold, devoid of emotion. It was as clean as it always was but the energy just wasn't there.

Lizzie and her aunt created a rather chaotic but familiar energy to the house when it was just them, an aura of comfortable living. Even if the two didn't interact more than strictly necessary and even then they didn't enjoy it any. But now the house was just cold and empty like a new house on market.

Lizzie led him through the living room and into the dining area. He had rarely been anywhere in this house minus Lizzie's room, the kitchen, and the living room. At the table sat two women who were familiar to each other in looks. He recognized Lizzie's aunt who was absently reading some papers.

The other women… there was no way to match her as Lizzie's mother. Where Lizzie was fluffy haired and blond this woman had straight black hair. Where Lizzie was tall and lithe, willowy almost, this woman was shorter and more curvaceous. Lizzie smiled most days for no reason but this woman looked like her face would crack if she tried it. Green, mossy eyes looked at her daughter and there wasn't a flicker of warmth as she surveyed her and then Nathaniel.

"Hello there mama. This is my friend Nathaniel."

Nathaniel looked at her sharply. The only time Lizzie had ever referred to him as his full name was when she was trying to run away. She had never had such absolute control of her voice either. There was a tight smile on her lips as she looked at her mother and she griped his hand now to pull him forward.

"So you finally showed up. And this time you brought a little friend." the voice was soft like honey but it seemed darker for it. "Come here little one."

Little one?! Nathaniel felt his eyebrow twitch. Lizzie was easily taller than her aunt and mother and was seventeen years old. Calling her little one just seemed insulting. But Lizzie didn't seem to mind openly. She moved so she was right before her mother and didn't flinch when her mother raised a hand to brush her hair back and then took her hand almost absently in a mechanical gesture.

The older woman looked at Nathaniel now as she clasped her daughter's hand. "So this is the boy you've been running around with lately. He isn't your usual sort to play with. You're still using protection right?"

"Yes, mama. Nathaniel and I aren't like that though."

"Of course not. In any case thank you so much for watching over Lizzie. She's become less of a nuisance since she began hanging around you. She seems more tolerable now too."

A kind of rage flickered to life inside Nathaniel at this woman's matter of fact voice that had no inflection even as she spoke of her only child.

Sure, Lizzie could be utterly annoying, with her crazy nicknames and the way she ran around and spoke mostly nonsense, and no guy would be totally okay with the way she dragged him around. But even in the days when Nathaniel had just been Lizzie's favorite 'toy' he'd never really found her to be truly intolerable.

"Nathaniel." He heard Lizzie's voice whisper to him and she had turned to look at him dead in his eyes. "Answer. She expects it of you."

Nathaniel grit his teeth and forced his hand to unclench, "Of course. My pleasure, ma'am."

"He's polite isn't he Maggie?" Lizzie's mother looked away and regarded her sister.

"Hmm? Oh yes." Lizzie's aunt leaned on her fist. "Sure is."

"Have you finished reading through it all yet," Lizzie's mother demanded. "All I need is a signature."

Lizzie's aunt glanced up at her sister with utter boredom and Nathaniel wondered how she could be so apathetic to such a cold person, even if she was blood.

"Like I said," her aunt yawned and waved a hand at Lizzie, "it's whatever Lizzie wants to do not me. I don't care."

Nathaniel felt Lizzie stiffen in confusion as the two adults went into a rather one sided argument. One sided because her aunt didn't participate, just let the words roll from her like water in a shower.

"Very well. Lizzie, sit down. We have something to discuss."

Lizzie pulled Nathaniel along. She waited until he was seated and then she very deliberately sat in his lap, crossing her hands around his neck so she had balance. Of its own accord his hand wrapped onto her waist to give her some more. And maybe offer silent support.

Her mother eyed the gesture with veiled distaste, like he was a bug that needed squashing and Lizzie a puppy that needed better training.

"I need you to come and live with me for the remainder of your high school education."

Nathaniel was the one who stiffened then. Lizzie was looking down at her legs. There was a glaze to her eyes that prevented anyone from seeing her thoughts or feelings.

Then she looked up. There was a smile that almost but didn't quite make it to her eyes on her face.

"Why?"

Her mother looked highly annoyed her daughter didn't just agree with a snap of her fingers. "As you know I recently remarried. My husband has two smaller children of his own. He is a family man so he sees you as his responsibility now and would like to bring you into the family. To make it complete."

Recently remarried? Nathaniel frowned. Lizzie hadn't taken any time off for a wedding and she hadn't mentioned it. But now that he was looking he saw the wedding band, a plain gold thing, on the ring finger. Lizzie didn't seem shocked by the news or the verdict of her new stepfather.

Nathaniel tightened his grip on her waist. Lizzie bent to lay her head against his. There was an urge to kiss her and declare she was his, to pull off some romantic hero/knightly crap to try and influence her to stay in Sweet Amoris with him for the remainder of the final year.

"I'm not running away." the words were muttered into his ear and Nathaniel nodded a little even as he knew it was pretty bleak.

Lizzie was only seventeen. By all legal rights she was still under the jurisdiction of her mother until she was eighteen. If this cold woman snapped then Lizzie had to follow no matter how against it she was.

So when the words "I'm not going," popped out of her mouth Nathaniel swallowed.

"What was that?" Her mother was polite in her frigid stance, fingers laced before her. And this was a woman who Lizzie had once described as being beaten and accepting of that. What a few years being abuse free and independent could do, he guessed.

"Auntie has full custody of me," Lizzie said with a smile. "And she and I get along so smashingly now!"

Auntie has full…? Okay so he had wondered about the fact Lizzie didn't live overseas with her mother but he figured that her mom still retained custody at least.

"That might be but I need you to-"

"You said I looked too much like dad." Lizzie broke in. a new silence blanketed the room as the words fell and suddenly Nathaniel was acutely aware he was in a family setting more broken than his own. It wasn't right he was here.

"Lizzie…"

"That's what you said ten years ago. I look too much like dad and I reminded you of him too much. My dad was really cute, wasn't he? Since I look like him?" Lizzie was smiling, fully in her element of lying to herself. Lying she was happy in these situations.

"You know he was very feminine looking, yes, but his appearance bears no matter on the fact I'm asking you to come home with me," her mother said.

"It bears all the matter in the world to me," Lizzie said. "Like when you said that dad did all sorts of things he didn't want to do and he was so tired and that's why he came home and did such awful things to you, remember? I remember and I lived by that. I still do actually even though Nathaniel here has been trying to teach me. He's the only one who ever cared enough to try to teach me that my logic was wrong."

Lizzie gave him a look and it was like that first time he saw her. He knew she was withdrawing into the familiar shell of running through things. In the current setup though he couldn't stop her or deny her its comfort.

"In this kinda thing though not even Natty can say I'm wrong though! So I'm not going. I don't want to. And even if you make me go with you I'll never shape up and be a good daughter in your eyes. I'll keep doing whatever I want when I want and I'll be a horrible influence on the little kids and I'll keep running away from it every chance I can because I don't want to be better for you or your husband. I only want to be better for Nathaniel."

"I guess that settles it then," Lizzie's aunt said softly. "Lizzie stays with me a while longer."

Nathaniel didn't understand the woman but he could have hugged her then. Especially when she dropped the papers she was reading and leaned back in her chair, scratching the back of her neck and stretching.

"I'm too tired for this. If you're going to screech like always sister wait until tomorrow to do it."

"I do not shriek," Lizzie's mother protested. "And this isn't over. I want my daughter!"

Lizzie's aunt shrugged. "Not my issue. I've spent ten years letting Lizzie do whatever she wants and go wherever she wants and I reckon a few more months of that won't hurt her any."

"Yes and it's that easy going attitude of yours that's led to her being so messed up!" Lizzie's mother spat. "She drinks, she has no concept of authority, of maintaining an image and she's the most selfish person I've ever met.

Well some of those Nathaniel had to agree with. Lizzie was extremely selfish. Or she had pretended to be when she forced herself to be callous and uncaring about other people's wants and needs. She did drink. And she seemed to have an unhealthy ability to ignore the laws in lieu of something she thought would be fun even if it was a crazy whim.

"Come on Natty." Lizzie leaped up and pulled him to his feet. "They'll be at this for awhile."

Nathaniel followed after her with mixed feelings. Neither of the arguing adults seemed to be aware they were leaving. This had shown him so much. He could kind of get why Lizzie turned out so twisted now.

He didn't like it. He didn't like that woman. It was one thing to leave for work. It was another to leave your child for years at a time and then to only want her back because of a husbands wants… it was wrong. Nathaniel wanted to ask but he was hesitant. It might be like poking a festering wound after all.

Lizzie took him to her room. As soon as he was in she shut the door. Nathaniel nearly slipped on the papers and candy wrappers littering the floor when she grabbed him and shoved him in a general direction. He hit his knees against what he assumed was a bed and crumpled.

He absently pushed off the pile of clothes on it and then Lizzie climbed in next to him. She burrowed until she was right up against him and he wrapped her up naturally.

"Lizzie."

"Oh I guess you're curious Natty!" Lizzie laughed a little bit. "Mama gave me to Auntie ten years ago. I look a lot like my dad. And she said she had to get better before she could be a good parent again. She sent cards and stuff. But she never came to get me. In fact this is the first time I've seen her in three years."

Nathaniel sighed and brought her closer still. He wanted to give her something, give her warmth. Lizzie needed and deserved that. She needed warmth, love, joy, real laughter.

Lizzie was very accommodating when he twisted so she was under him slightly and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. His heart had started up a nervous rhythm but he couldn't make himself stop to think about it now. Lizzie had reached up and traced his cheeks with her fingers.

"Natty I've kissed a lot of people. But I didn't like any of them like I like you."

It sent a small kernel of worry into the back of his brain. How many people had Lizzie been kissing? Or doing more with? If he asked she would tell him he was sure. But he realized it didn't matter. Whatever she had done didn't matter to him in the least. All he cared about was healing the scars from her past and making her live her life.

"You'll stay the night right?"

Stay the night in the messy room with a tempting idiot. It just sounded dangerous. Health wise and sanity wise. Nathaniel sighed against her skin and then moved to kiss her lips fully, thinking it would ease some of the craving. Her lips parted easily and warmly but he didn't take her up on that silent offer to further things along.

"Yeah, I will."

End chapter

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_**Author note:** _There…. A kiss. A rather weak one but that's because I read the word count and was like, Noooo! So if a kiss comes about next chapter it will be very well executed. See you all next time!


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